CORELLI, Arcangelo 1653-1713

Corelli's Celebrated Twelve Concertos, As Performed by Mr. Cramer, at the Ancient Concert Tottenham Street, and at the Hanover Square Concert, Adapted for the Organ, Harpsichord or Piano Forte, by Thomas Billington, Harpsichord & Singing Master. Opera IX. Price 15s. [Op. 6]. [Keyboard arrangements]

London: G. Walker, Publisher of Books & Music, 105 & 106 Portland Street, [ca. 1810].

Folio. Nineteenth century dark gray cloth-backed embossed cloth boards with titling gilt to upper. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 24, [i] (blank), 26-57, [i] (blank) pp. Watermark 1810. Engraved throughout.

With bookplate of English barrister Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847-1916) to front pastedown.

Alternate pagination in contemporary brown ink to upper outer corner of pp. 133-191.

Binding worn, rubbed, and bumped; hinges slightly split; endpapers browned, with offsetting to front free endpaper from bookplate. Small binder's holes to inner margins; very light dampstaining to blank lower margin of pp. 3-6; small stain to upper outer corner of pp. 45-57, not affecting music; some manuscript page numbers very slightly cropped.

In very good condition overall.

JISC (one copy only, at the National Library of Scotland). Not located in WorldCat. This edition not in RISM. First published in 1782.

"Despite the modest size of his output, comprising six collections of instrumental music and a handful of other authentic works, and its virtual restriction to three genres – solo sonata, trio sonata and concerto – Corelli exercised an unparalleled influence during his lifetime and for a long time afterwards. This influence, which affected form, style and instrumental technique in equal measure, was most closely felt in Italy, and in particular in Rome, where he settled in early manhood, but soon spread beyond local and national confines to become a European phenomenon. As a violinist, teacher of the violin and director of instrumental ensembles Corelli imposed standards of discipline that were unusually strict for their period and helped to lay the groundwork for further progress along the same lines during the 18th century. To Corelli belong equally the distinctions of being the first composer to derive his fame exclusively from instrumental composition, the first to owe his reputation in large part to the activity of music publishers, and the first to produce ‘classic’ instrumental works which were admired and studied long after their idiom became outmoded." Michael Talbot in Grove Music Online

"Thomas Billington (1754–?1832) described himself as a ‘Harpsichord & Singing Master’. He was also quite an industrious composer, publishing a variety of vocal and instrumental music, along with arrangements of works by Boccherini, Corelli, Geminiani, Handel, Haydn, Pleyel, Sammartini, and Stamitz. The work that concerns us is his Opus 9, usually said to date from 1784. ... The Mr. Cramer referred to was violinist Wilhelm Cramer (1746–1799), who led a number of performances of Corelli concertos at Hanover Square, first among which was Concerto VIII on 10 March 1784. Billington is thus not claiming that his keyboard arrangements were performed at these concerts: he is simply invoking a well-known and highly respected name in the London musical world." John O'Donnell, ed., Lyrebird edition of Billington's arrangements, 2021.

Billington's arrangements make use of mostly two- and three-part textures, at times expanding into four or five note chords in grand tutti sections. Interestingly, he includes the figured bass, which suggests that players who were so inclined could enrich the texture ad libitum with added chord tones; he also ccasionally modifies Corelli's idiomatic string textures to be more fitting for keyboard instruments.

An attractive set of arrangements of Corelli's Concerti grossi, Op. 6, attesting to the continued popularity of the composer's works nearly 100 years after his death.

Item #39958

Price: $375.00  other currencies