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Mus. 949

This is one of the many manuscripts of 17th-century Italian cantatas now in Christ Church Library.

Manuscript. Cantatas for solo voice and continuo by Giacomo Carissimi, Luigi Rossi, Pietro Simone Agostini and others; single unidentified Italian copyist, probably last quarter of 17th century.

Table of titles and composers in modern form. Display form found in manuscript.

1	Pietro Simone Agostini	Già il sonno	ff. 1^r-5^v
2	Giacomo Carissimi	Almeno un pensiero	ff. 7^r-12^v
3	Giacomo Carissimi	Non chiede altro che vita	ff. 13^r-18^r
4	Giacomo Carissimi	Bel tempo per me se n'andò	ff. 19^r-22^v
5	Giacomo Carissimi	È bello l'ardire	ff. 23^r-28^r
6	Giacomo Carissimi	Filli, non t'amo piu	ff. 29^r-34^v
7	Luigi Rossi	Si, v'ingannate, si	ff. 35^r-40^v
8	Luigi Rossi	Querelatevi di me	ff. 41^r-44^r
9	Luigi Rossi	Mai no'l dirò	ff. 45^r-48^v
10	Luigi Rossi	E che cantar poss'io	ff. 49^r-54^r
11	Luigi Rossi	Si tocchi tamburo (from 'Il palazzo incantato')	ff. 55^r-60^r
12	Luigi Rossi	Presso un ruscel sedea un uom	ff. 61^r-68^v
13	Luigi Rossi	Occhi ardenti, pupille belle	ff. 69^r-72^v
14	Luigi Rossi	Non c'è che dire	ff. 73^r-76^v
15	Luigi Rossi	Occhi belli, occhi vezzosi	ff. 77^r-79^r
16	Luigi Rossi	Che sventura, son tant'anni	ff. 81^r-84^r
17	Carissimi, Marazzoli or Rossi	Con incerta speranza	ff. 85^r-90^v
18		Indovinala, mio core	ff. 91^r-94^r
19		Mancavano tormenti	ff. 95^r-101^r

Oblong format, 285 x 125 mm. Structure: I+101+i leaves, foliated in late 17th-century ink. The volume has been assembled from the following fascicles, each of which contains a single musical item.

Item 1: one gathering: A6 (= ff. 1-6). Unused ruled staves on ff. 6r-v.
Item 2: one gathering: B6 (= ff. 7-12).
Item 3: one gathering: C6 (= ff. 13-18). Unused ruled staves on f. 18v.
Item 4: one gathering: D4 (= ff. 19-22).
Item 5: one gathering: E6 (= ff. 23-8). Unused ruled staves on f. 28v.
Item 6: one gathering: F6 (= ff. 29-34).
Item 7: one gathering: G6 (= ff. 35-40).
Item 8: one gathering: H4 (= ff. 41-4). Unused ruled staves on f. 44v.
Item 9: one gathering: I4 (= ff. 45-8).
Item 10: one gathering: J6 (= ff. 49-54). Unused ruled staves on f. 54v.
Item 11: one gathering: K6 (= ff. 55-60). Unused ruled staves on f. 60v.
Item 12: one gathering: L8 (= ff. 61-8).
Item 13: one gathering: M4 (= ff. 69-72).
Item 14: one gathering: N4 (= ff. 73-6).
Item 15: one gathering: O4 (= ff. 77-80). Unused ruled staves on ff. 79v-80v.
Item 16: one gathering: P4 (= ff. 81-4). Unused ruled staves on f. 84v.
Item 17: one gathering: Q6 (= ff. 85-90).
Item 18: one gathering: R4 (= ff. 91-4). Unused ruled staves on f. 94v.
Item 19: two gatherings: S6, T2 (= ff. 95-100, 101-[endleaf ii]). Unused ruled staves on f. 101v.

Decorative strapwork capitals have been supplied throughout, some with pictorial detail depicting ships, castles, birds, animals and grotesque faces. The capital on f. 19r is drawn on a separate slip and has been pasted into place. Index of contents on rear flyleaf [iir] in an Italian hand (not that of the copyist), with annotations in ink in an unidentified English hand of ?c.1700, and in pencil by Havergal. On the music pages themselves, various hands have added composer attributions to the cantatas; a few attributions may have been supplied by the copyist, but the majority are later additions. Late 17th-century Italian binding of limp cream vellum, varnished, and tooled in black with a centrepiece, cornerpieces and fillets; gilt edges; stubs of ties at the upper, lower and fore edges. The inside upper cover is annotated 'Libbro 3', placing this volume within a sequence of other cantata manuscripts now at Christ Church. Annotation in ink on the inside lower cover, c. 1700: 'Sigr. Anton'. Pencil jottings by Malchair on front flyleaf, summarizing composer attributions. Bookplate 2 on the inside upper cover. 19th-century shelfmark: E.1.14.

Provenance: from the Aldrich bequest, listed in Dowding at shelfmark Q1 as 'Italian Cantatas / in five Volumes with their Basses'; this entry also covers Mus. 946,Mus. 947, Mus. 948 and Mus. 952. In Mus. 949 itself, the shelfmark 'Q.1. Vol. 4' is writen on the front flyleaf.

The description and inventory above incorporate information kindly supplied by Margaret Murata and Michael Talbot.

Microfilm: manuscript music, reel 51.