Music Library

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~2009-2010 highlights~

Domenico Cimarosa. Artemisia : Dramma Tragico. Venezia, [1801]. Acquired through the Lucie King Harris Books for Music Fund. Artemesia is the last of Cimarosa’s almost sixty operas, with libretto by Count Giovanni Battista Colloredo who wrote under the pen name of Cratisto Jamejo. Cimarosa completed only two of the acts; the third was completed by an unknown person. The opera premiered at La Fenice in Venice in January 1801, was performed in Florence in 1806, and was likely performed in England, Germany and Russia. Arias from the opera were published in the early nineteenth century and the overture in 1957. However the full opera has never been published. This two-volume manuscript copy was produced in Venice by the well known copying shop of Valentino Bertoja, who at one time was Haydn’s second cellist at Esterháza. It is inscribed to Alvise Mocenigo, a member of one of the most renowned patrician families of the Venetian Republic.

Music for King Henry: BL Royal MS 11 E XI. Charenton près Paris : Chez Vernay, [1804] Commentary by Nicolas Bell; performing edition by David Skinner. London : The Folio Society, 2009. Acquired through the Susan & Ruth Sharp Book Fund. This deluxe facsimile edition, limited to 500 copies, is a beautiful reproduction of a manuscript compiled in 1516 in Flanders. It is believed to have been presented to King Henry VIII of England as a means of securing a position for Benedictus de Opitiis as court organist. The illuminated manuscript is thoughtfully designed to appeal to the king’s interests and contains six motets, two of them composed in his honor. The intricate frontispiece utilizes the texts of two of the motets and its illustrations are full of symbolism relating to Henry’s lineage and history. A separate volume of Commentary provides background information about the manuscript’s creation, a description of the manuscript, and a discussion of its pieces, as well as a Performing Edition of the music. A recording is also provided, containing most of the pieces in the manuscript, many never before recorded, some of King Henry’s compositions, and other works.

Fränzl, Ferdinand, 1767-1833. Trois quatuors concertants : pour deux violons, alto & violoncelle, très humblement dédiés a la majesté l'empereur Alexandre IR / F. Fraenzl. Charenton près Paris : Chez Vernay, [1804] Acquired through the Allen B. Cagle Fund. This beautifully produced set of parts is one of the earliest examples of French music lithography. Lithography is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the art or process of making a drawing, design or writing on a special kind of stone so that impressions in ink can be taken from it.” Developed by Alois Senefelder in the late 18th century, a French patent for the process was secured in 1802 by Frédéric André, who sold it shortly thereafter to Madame Louise-Gabrielle Vernay. These parts were published at one of the Vernay family’s publishing establishments.

Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911. 3. Symphonie / von Gustav Mahler. Wien : J. Weinberger, [1899?] Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911. Dritte Symphonie D Moll / von Gustav Mahler. Wien : Universal-Edition, [19--] Acquired through the Susan & Ruth Sharp Book Fund. The first and second editions of Mahler’s third symphony increase the number of source materials for the work in the Memorial Library of Music in the Department of Special Collections, which already included two sketches and a corrected first edition. This copy of the first edition contains extensive manuscript corrections and alterations in a neat hand in red ink throughout, possibly from a member of Mahler’s circle, or of a professional copyist from the publisher Universal. Stanford owns another copy of the first edition which also contains corrections by an unknown source. Mahler is known to have constantly revised his works so that sources such as these may provide significant insight into his process. Besides the two annotated first editions at Stanford, there are other annotated copies at the Internationale Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft in Vienna, which has corrections in Mahler’s handwriting and another hand, the Library of Congress, and New York Public Library. The handwriting in the first Stanford copy and the New York Public copy seem to be similar. We do not fully know what the relationship is between these copies or what the information in them tells us. When one compares the newly acquired first and second editions, it is evident that the corrections and alterations noted in the first edition were made in the published second.

~2008-2009 highlights~

Musée Condé. Bibliothèque. Manuscript. 564. Codex Chantilly, Bibliothèque du château de Chantilly, Ms. 564, Fac-similé, édité par Yolanda Plumley et Anne Stone. Turnhout: Brepols, 2008. Facsimile of the early 15th century manuscript, accompanied by 1 v. of commentary. Acquired through the Allen B. Cagle Fund. The Chantilly codex, Bibliothèque du château de Chantilly, MS. 564, has long been recognized as one of the most important repositories for French secular music of the late fourteenth century. Among its 99 chansons and 13 Latin or French-texted motets it preserves dozens of unique works by composers scarcely known—or unknown—elsewhere. These works include some of the most elaborate surviving examples of so-called ‘Ars subtilior’ notation, bearing testimony to the efforts of composers of the last decades of the fourteenth century in experimenting with the written representation of musical rhythm. From the Introduction to the Commentary.

Jean Baptiste Lully. Le Triomphe de l’Amour, Ballet Royal. Paris : Christophe Ballard, 1681. Acquired through the Lucie King Harris Books for Music Fund. Lully held prominent positions in the court of Louis XIV of France and was the most influential composer in the country during the latter part of the 17th century. Le Triomphe de l’Amour, with libretto by Isaac de Benserade and Philippe Quinault, is a ballet de cour, which combines dance with sung comedie. It was first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1681 marking the arrival of Marie-Anne-Christine-Victoire of Bavaria, who was to marry the dauphin. The first public performances later that year are noteworthy for having the first appearances of professional female dancers. Music abounded at court and Louis was known as an accomplished dancer. It was not unusual for members of the court to take part in the private performances and the dauphin is reported to have appeared as Pleasure, in this work. This copy of the ballet includes 17th-century performance markings and the composer’s autograph paraph.

Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu. Valencia: Vicent García Editores, 2007. Acquired through the Susan & Ruth Sharp Fund. This limited facsimile edition of the well known Chansonnier cordiforme, Ms. Occ. Rothschild 2973, housed in the Bibliothèque nationale de France., is exceptional in many respects. It has an unusual heart shape when closed, and opens into the shape of a butterfly, composed of the hearts of two lovers who send love messages to one another in each of the songs. A pictogram is used whenever the word “heart” appears in the texts and there is beautiful artwork throughout the manuscript. Included are French and Italian secular pieces, by or attributed to Barbingant, Fedé, Bedingham, Dufay, Dunstable, Binchois, Frye, Busnois, Caron, Cornago, Ghizeghem, Morton, Ockeghem, Vincenet and others. The chansonnier was commissioned by Jean de Montchenu, a nobleman, apostolic prothonotary, Bishop of Agen (1477) and Later of Vivier (1478-1797).

~2007-2008 highlights~

Catholic Church. Missale Constantiense : ad Romani formam & normam reuocatum, atque a S.D.N. Clemente Viii. approbatum ... Constantiae: Ex Officina Nicolai Kalt, episcopi constantiensis typographi ordinarij, MDCIII [1603] Acquired through the Susan & Ruth Sharp Book Fund. Missals bring together in one place all the components needed for the celebration of mass, from various liturgical sources. Although they do not always contain the music used, missals even without music, particularly those that predate the Council of Trent, are important for documenting diverse local practices. One goal of the Council was to establish uniformity in celebration of the mass and editions of the reformed missal were distributed as a result. Although this volume post dates the Council, its manuscript supplement may provide valuable information about the practices in Constance, which had the reputation of being very independent. The missal contains many woodcuts and is printed in black and red throughout.

Collection of Chamber and Instrumental Music. Gift of the Kronos Quartet. The Kronos Quartet Collection in the Stanford University Music Library continues to grow with the addition of 513 scores of chamber and instrumental works. These contemporary works are mostly by young composers who submitted their compositions for consideration for the Kronos: Under 30 Project. Conceived in 2003, the Quartet established the program to support the creation of new work by young artists, and to help Kronos cultivate stronger connections with young musicians. The Kronos Quartet remains at the forefront of performing, inspiring and promoting contemporary music throughout the world.

Collection of 18th-Century Parodies. Acquired through the Lucie King Harris Books for Music Fund. These two volumes contain ten parodies which were presented by the Comédie-Italienne throughout the first half of the 18th century. The works lampoon the operatic tragedies of Jean-Baptiste Lully, composer to King Louis XIV, and his followers and were set to texts by such leading figures as Alan René Le Sage, Louis Fuzelier and Charles-Simon Favart. Each parody contains some music. Some of the works represented in the collection are Les Amants Inquiets, Parodie De Thetis et Pelée; Les Indes Dansantes, Parodie Des Indes Galantes; Fanfale, Parodie D’Omphale; Les Bergers De Qualité, Parodie De Daphnis Et Chloé; Tyrcis Et Doristée, Patorale, Parodie D’Acis Et Galatée; and Raton Et Rosette, Parodie De Titon Et L’Aurore.

Musikhandschriften aus der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin -- Preuβischer Kulturbesitz und der Jagiellonischen Bibliothek Krakau. Theil 6: Die Sammlung der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. Theil 3, Lieferung 1-2. München, K.G. Saur, 2007. Microform. Acquired through the Susan & Ruth Sharp Book Fund. After World War II the fate of art works, including music manuscripts, were often unknown. In 1999 noted musicologist Christoph Wolff discovered the missing collection of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin in Kiev, where it had been evacuated in 1943 when the Red Army invaded Berlin. In 2001 the music archive returned to Berlin where it now resides at the Staatsbibliothek. The collection of autograph manuscripts, transcriptions and rare printed music is now available for the first time in several decades. The third part of this microfiche set is comprised of Symphonies, Concertos and Overtures, including over 200 symphonic works by brothers Johann Gottlieb and Carl Heinrich Graun, who together had significant impact on 18th-century musical life in Berlin. Also included are almost all the instrumental works of Berlin masters Christoph Schffrath and Johann Gottlieb Janitsch. All of these men were integrally connected to Frederick II, King of Prussia, himself an accomplished musician.

Naxos Music Library Database. Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services. Acquired through the Donnell, Susan & Ruth Sharp, Belva Kibler Memorial, Hattie Clark Rosenbaum, and Hirschman funds. The collection consists of a database of the sound recordings in the Naxos record label catalog including all of the recordings on the Amadis, Marco Polo, Middle Kingdom, Naxos Audiobooks, Naxos Instrumental, Naxos International, Naxos Jazz, Naxos World, White Cloud, and Yellow River Chinese labels that are currently available in the online Naxos Music Library. The Naxos labels cover the full breadth of classical music throughout the ages, international jazz recordings, and world music. The contents of the collection are the equivalent of 6,115 albums consisting of 6,764 CDs, and the database will be updated continuously with future recordings issued by Naxos. The collection provides unlimited access to the entire Naxos Music Library database including 10,000 recordings in addition to those listed here. Stanford users will be able to use the recordings as data files for analysis and critical research as well as for listening and study.