Airs de Roland. [LWV 65]. Interesting manuscript collection of selected vocal pieces from operas by Lully, Campra, and Desmarets

Oblong 16mo. Full contemporary vellum with triple-rule border to both boards. With "C Armand" in early manuscript to upper board and front pastedown, quite possibly the French soprano Mlle. Armand, fl. 1704-1707. 88 pp. Notated in black ink on 4-stave rastrum-ruled paper. Watermark bunch of grapes, countermark group of letters (indecipherable). Contains: Lully. Roland. [LWV 65] 1) "Au genereux Roland je dois," pp. 1-3, bass/continuo 2) "Tromphez charmante Reyne," pp. 4-5, bass solo 3) "Faut il encor que je vous ayme," pp. 6-8, bass/continuo 4) "J'abandonne ma gloire," pp. 8-9, bass solo with figures 5) "Agréables rettraites," pp. 9-10, alto/continuo 6) "Ah! que mon c?ur est agité," pp. 11-13, soprano/continuo 7) "Ah quel tourment de garder," pp. 14-17, alto/continuo 8) "Je ne verray plus," pp. 18-22, soprano/continuo 9) "Ah! J'attendray longtemps," pp. 22-26, bass/continuo Lully. Armide. [LWV 71] 10) "Vous allumez une fatale flamme," pp. 26-27, soprano/continuo 11) "Les Plaisirs ont choisy pour azile," pp. 28-30, alto/continuo 12) "Allez allez éloignez vous," pp. 31-32, alto/continuo 13) "Pouquoy voulez vous songer," pp. 32-33, soprano/continuo 14) "Plus j'observe ces lieux," pp. 34-40, alto/continuo 15) "La chaisne de l'hymen m'estonne," pp. 40-41, soprano/continuo 16) "Ah! si la liberté," pp. 42-44, soprano/continuo Lully. Atys. [LWV 53] 17) "Le Printemps quelquefois," pp. 45-46, alto/continuo 18) "Amans qui vous plaignez," pp. 46-48, bass/continuo 19) "L'Amour fait trop verser," pp. 48-50, alto/continuo 20) "Quand le peril est agréable," p. 51, soprano/continuo 21) "Quand on ayme," pp. 52-53, bass/continuo 22) "Dans l'Empire amoureux," pp. 54-56, soprano/bass duet 23) "Laisse mon c?ur en paix," pp. 56-58, alto/continuo 24) "Ne vous faittes point violence," pp. 59-61, bass/continuo 25) "Espoir si cher," pp. 61-66, soprano/continuo 26) "Revenez ma raison," pp. 66-68, soprano/continuo Lully. Phaëton. [LWV 61] 27) "Dans cette paisible retraite," pp. 68-70, soprano/continuo 28) "Heureuse une ame indiferente," pp. 70-72, soprano/continuo At this point, the pagination skips from p. 72 to p. 89. A new piece starts, suggesting a decision may have been made on the part of the compiler of the manuscript to omit some leaves, perhaps paginated before the music was copied. All pieces in this section are preserved in their integrity. Campra. Le Carnaval de Venise 29) "Vous brillez a mes yeux," pp. 89-91, bass/continuo 30) "Que l'Amour dans nos c?urs," pp. 91-95, soprano and bass/continuo 32) "De tes rigueurs ny de tes faveurs," pp. 95-95, alto/continuo Desmarets. Théagène et Cariclée 33) "Le calme et les beaux yeux," pp. 98-100, soprano/continuo. 34) "Charmant repos d'une ame," pp. 101-102, soprano/continuo Anon. 35) "Tout est fragile dans le monde," pp. 103-104, soprano/continuo Also found in a music manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Notice n°: FRBNF43363801), an "Air à boire à 2." Binding slightly soiled, stained, and warped; signature to upper board faded. Occasional stains and soiling, mostly marginal; some light showthrough. Executed in an accomplished hand, similar to contemporary examples from the Foucault workshop, which produced numerous copyist manuscripts of Lully operas. The identity of the scribe is unknown; the presence of distinctive semi-colon style bass and baritone clefs may, however, aid scholars interested in tracing other examples of the hand. The present manuscript offers a wealth of information regarding the performance practice of 17th century French operatic repertoire in domestic settings. The air "J'abandonne ma gloire," pp. 8-9, is notated for bass voice on a single staff, with figured bass. A singer could thus self-accompany from the figures while singing the vocal part, as the solo and accompaniment in that selection are identical. In "Dans l'Empire amoureux," pp. 54-56, a soprano/bass duet, the entrance of the bass vocal line, which differs from the soprano, is written out separately. By th.…