G.F. Handel, Mid-C18 manuscript of 26 arias, including "Alcina" and "Siroe", with decorations for the singers

Property of the Trustees of the Sandys Trust removed from Ombersley Court, Worcestershire

HANDEL, GEORGE FRIDERIC

Mid-eighteenth-century English manuscript of twenty-six opera arias, including nine from "Alcina", six from "Siroe" and two unrecorded, probably dating from Handel's lifetime, containing ornamentation and other differences from the printed editions

written in dark brown ink by a professional English scribe, mainly for soprano voice and bass line on five two-stave systems per page (some from Alcina on five-stave systems), trills and other decorations added by the scribe throughout, vocal lines occasionally more florid than the known versions, orchestral cues notated on the vocal staves (marked "Sym[phony]"), twelve numbers transposed to different keys, the word-underlay occasionally different, with a few corrections and alterations; there are twenty-four da capo arias from Alessandro (3), Siroe (6), Flavio, Admeto, Partenope (2), Tolomeo, Lotario and Alcina, the original singers named (Sigra Faustina, Sigra Cuzzoni, Sgra Strada, Sigr Caristini [sic], Miss Young) and two apparently unrecorded arias, 'Soffrirò tormenti e pene per salvarvi' and 'Talor di frescha brina' [sic], attributed to Handel by the scribe (a list of pieces is available)

99 pages, large oblong 4to (c.26 x 37cm), unpaginated leaf inserted between pages 62 & 63, heavy 10-stave Villedary papers (Churchill 411 & 428; cf Heawood nos 1829-1835), paginated 1-182 (including 41 blanks at end), English provenance, probably c.1740-1760, contemporary reversed calf, red-gilt label ("Songs"), engraved armorial book plate of William Trumbull (“Virtute et industria”), small tear to first page, some browning

This grandly laid-out manuscript contains evidence of contemporary performance practice of opera arias during the Handel's time, including vocal decorations and transpositions, some possibly added for didactic purposes. There are significant divergences from the known version of the first number, 'Lusinghe più care d'amor veri dardi' from Alessandro (1726).  Fourteen numbers derive from Handel's operas of the late 1720s and nine from Alcina, possibly added later. The transpositions in Alcina reflect those Handel made in 1736-1737, although Carestini is still named as the singer. All the arias are attributed to Handel, but two (nos 5 and 12) are not by him and are apparently unrecorded. The text of 'Talor da fresca brina' is found in J.A. Hasse's opera Gerone tiranno di Siracusa (Naples 1727), which Handel may have known, but the aria itself is quite different and has not been found in any other setting of the libretto, nor in Handel's own pasticci. We have not traced 'Soffrirò tormenti e pene per salvarvi', although the first stanza appears in the libretto for Francesco Gasparini’s opera Dorinda (1723)

The owner of this manuscript was William Trumbull (1708-1760), son of Sir William Trumbull (1639-1716) Secretary of State and bibliophile. He regularly attended Handel's operas, and possibly knew the composer, since he is recorded by his wife Mary as attending one of the rehearsals for Serse in April 1738. The following month he reported the contretemps with the castrato Cafarelli during a performance of Faramondo ("a great Quarrel between Cafarielli & Hendal"), in a letter of 20 May 1738. Handel had doubled Cafarelli's vocal line on the harpsichord, ostentatiously "guiding" him as if he were a mere pupil, apparently in retaliation for the singer advising his friends not to attend the opera.

From the Trumbull family are descended the Marquesses of Downshire, including Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess and 3rd Lord Hillsborough (see lot 81), and his daughters Charlotte and Mary (see lot 69).

LITERATURE:

Handel-Werk-Verzeichnis 16/6; HWV 21/5, 6 & 29; HWV 22/Anh 5b; HWV 24/3, 6, 13, 17, 20 & 25; HWV 25/17; HWV 26/8; HWV 27/4 & 29; HWV 34/7, 13, 15A, 15B, 32 Anh 14, 20, 22 & 26; R. Strohm, Essays on Handel and Italian Opera, (1985). D. Hunter, The Lives of George Frideric Handel (2015), pp.60-61.

PROVENANCE:

William Trumbull (1708-1760), by descent through the Marquesses of Downshire to the Sandys family.