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Mus. 957

Manuscript. Arias for solo voice and continuo, and a duet, drawn largely from operas by Marc'Antonio Ziani, Antonio Giannettini and Alessandro Scarlatti, but also including an aria by Alessandro Melani; single unidentified Italian copyist, with pagination and index added by a second hand; late 1680s or later. The same scribes were also responsible for making Mus. 954, which in many respects is a partner volume. The majority of arias in Mus. 957 are drawn from the following four operas:

Marc'Antonio Ziani, Alessandro Magno in Sidone (first performance: Venice, 1679).
Antonio Giannettini, Irene e Costantino (first performance: Venice, 1681).
Alessandro Scarlatti, Il Flavio (first performance: Naples, 1688).
Alessandro Scarlatti, La Rosmene (first performance: Rome, 1686).

In the inventory below, items 1-63 are scored for solo voice, item 64 for two voices. Item 2 is not the setting by Severo de Luca in Mus. 954 and 956.

Table of titles and composers as shown in the manuscript. Display in modern form.

1	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Non amo mà bramo [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 1^r-3^r
2		Vieni ò mia cara	ff. 3^v-7^r
3		Bella dea madre d'amori	ff. 7^v-8^v
4	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Scherza meco la fortuna [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 9^r-10^v
5	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Antri ciechi ardente arene [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 11^r-13^v
6		Tù dai pace al mio dolor	ff. 14^r-15^r
7		Io ti lascio in grembo ài fiori	ff. 15^v-16^v
8	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Ad onta delle stelle [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 17^r-18^v
9	[Antonio Giannettini]	Sino ch'avrò beltà [from 'Irene e Costantino']	ff. 19^r-20^v
10	[Antonio Giannettini]	Pur che d'amor non parli [from 'Irene e Costantino']	ff. 21^r-22^r
11	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	De la fama l'aurea Tromba [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 22^v-24^v
12	[Antonio Giannettini]	Scherzo io son del dio bambin [from 'Irene e Costantino']	ff. 25^r-26^v
13	[Antonio Giannettini]	Voglio vendetta si [from 'Irene e Costantino']	ff. 27^r-29^r
14	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Io peno mà godo [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 30^r-31^v
15		Amor mi dice nò	ff. 32^r-34^r
16		Dammi un sguardo ò bella Clori	ff. 34^v-36^v
17		Spirti rei numi d'inferno	ff. 37^r-39^r
18	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Lontan dal bel ch'adoro [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 39^v-41^r
19	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Amami seguimi [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 41^v-42^v
20	[Marc'Antonio Ziani]	Non provasti ancora i dardi [from 'Alessandro Magno in Sidone']	ff. 43^r-44^v
21		Ogni stella ch'in Ciel ruota	ff. 45^r-47^r
22	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Chi l'impero hà sù gl'affetti [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 47^v-49^v
23	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Ad altri in braccio [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 50^r-53^r
24	[Alessandro Melani]	Cinta d'armi lusinghiere	ff. 53^v-55^v
25		Lagrime avventurate	ff. 56^r-57^r
26		Allo strale ch'un ciglio	ff. 58^r-60^r
27	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Risorta la speme [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 61^r-64^v
28		Se rischiarasi Il mio horrore	ff. 65^r-67^r
29	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	In amor son fortunata [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 67^v-68^v
30	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Al mormorio del pianto [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 69^r-72^r
31	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	In quel volto ch'è d'empiro [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 73^r-75^r
32		Nò non viver pendando	ff. 75^v-77^r
33		Di Cupido e questo è un gioco	ff. 77^v-79^r
34	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Così mi basta [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 80^r-83^r
35	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Partite abbandonatemi [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 84^r-86^v
36	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Mio cor che sarà [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 88^r-89^v
37		Consolati se puoi	ff. 90^r-91^v
38	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Spera, mio cor [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 92^r-93^v
39	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Vengo à voi piaggie latine [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 94^r-95^v
40	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Non sò amar chi non mi piace [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 96^r-97^r
41	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Se nel soglio [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 98^r-99A^v
42	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Chi vuole innamorarsi [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 100^r-101^v
43	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Scherza ridi festeggia [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 102^r-104^r
44	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Ardo penando [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 105^r-107^v
45	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Son ferito e tu sei quell'arciera [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 109^r-110^v
46	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	O quanto hai da soffrir [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 111^r-112^v
47	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Col freddo tuo velen [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 113^r-114^v
48		Dirò il ver mà dirò poco	ff. 115^r-116^v
49	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Lampo d'or che'in istante di luce [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 117^r-118^v
50	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Spoglia esangue in marmi algenti [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 119^r-120^v
51	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Come cede la porpora [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 121^r-125^r
52	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Se misero oggetto [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 125^v-128^r
53	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Perche amor vedea languire [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 129^r-131A^v
54	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Amare è fingere [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 132^r-134^v
55	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	Fiumicel ch'hor presto hor lento [from 'La Rosmene']	ff. 136^r-138^v
56		Cessa di tormentarmi	ff. 139^r-140^v
57	[Alessandro Scarlatti]	È in dubbio il core [from 'Il Flavio']	ff. 141^r-143^r
58		Dun bel viso in un momento	ff. 144^r-146^r
59		Deh vaga bocca	ff. 146^v-150A^v
60		Dolce amor mi dice spera	ff. 151^r-153^v
61		Corri vola in questo sen	ff. 154^r-155^v
62		Il maggior d'ogni contento	ff. 156^r-158^v
63		frà le Rose del labro vermiglio	ff. 159^r-160^v
64		Preziose farfallette	ff. 167^r-176^r

Oblong format, 270 x 110 mm. Physical structure: iii + 175 + i leaves. Foliated in late 17th-century ink, but with some leaves missed from the sequence; the present foliation is as follows: ff. 1-76, 76A, 77-99, 99A, 100-131, 131A, 132-60, [166-1 are absent], 167-76. Collation: made from gatherings of two quired bifolia (A4, B4, etc) except at the following places: (a) ff. 90-7 (= 2 quired bifiolia, ff. 90-91 and 96-7, enclosing two adjacent bifiolia, ff. 92-3 and 94-5); (b) 159-60 (= bifolium); (c) 175-6 (= bifolium). The quires were formerly numbered in ink on the top right-hand corner of their first pages; traces of these numbers are visible from f. 144r onwards. On the opening page (f. 1r) a large space has been left for the addition of an ornamental capital letter; thereafter small segments of blank stave precede each aria, on which further ornamental capitals could have been added. Some of the arias are copied across gatherings, but elsewhere pages of unused ruled staves occur at the ends of gatherings, as if marking the ends of layers; the unused pages occur at the following places: ff. 29v, 60v, 72v, 79v, 83v, 87r-v, 97v, 104v, 108r-v, 128v, 135r-v, and 143v. The hand that foliated the volume (and also Mus. 954) also added a contents list (on f. 176v and the recto of rear flyleaf [i]); but ff. 161-6 are absent from the foliation system, and there is no entry in the contents list for those leaves, implying that ff. 161-6 had been removed before the volume was indexed and bound. Late 17th-century binding of cream vellum; stubs of leather ties at the upper and lower edges and fore-edge; edges stippled in red and black. (The binding of the partner collection of arias, Mus. 954, is similar but not identical.) Bookplate 2 on inside upper cover. 19th-century shelfmark: E.1.22.

Provenance: from the Aldrich bequest, listed in Dowding at shelfmark Q4 as 'Italian Cantatas / in five Volumes with their Basses . . . by Cesti & Luighi'; this entry also covers Mus. 950, Mus. 956, Mus. 958 and Mus. 959. In Mus. 957 itself, the shelfmark 'Q. 4. Vol. 5' is writen on the first front flyleaf.

Microfilm: manuscript music, reel 54.

The inventory above incorporates information kindly supplied by Michael Talbot.