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Oblong folio (227 x 293 mm). Disbound. [i] (manuscript index tipped-in), 233 pp. (including three blanks). Notated on 10-stave rastrum-ruled paper with watermark of a shield with "GR" below. Contains the following works: 1. Clari, Giovanni Carlo Maria (1677-1754), adapted by Charles Avison (1709-1770). "Unto the Lord." [Duet]. 16 pp. 2. Clari/Avison. "O all ye Nations." [Duet]. 10 pp. 3. Carissimi, Giacomo (1605-1674). "Hodie Simon Petrus." [Duet]. 5 pp. 4. Carissimi. "O nomen Jesu." [Duet]. 4 pp. Attributed to Giovanni Battista Bassani in RISM ID: 800226688. 5. Steffani, Agostino (1654-1728). "Saldi marmi." [Duet]. 19 pp. 6. Steffani. "Dolce è per voi." [Duet]. 9 pp. 7. Clari. "L'Amante disperato" ["O femina mendace"]. [Duet]. 16 pp. 8. Steffani. "M'hai da piangere." [Duet]. 11 pp. 9. Steffani. "Dolce labbro." [Duet]. 9 pp. 10. Purcell, Henry (1659-1695). "In guilty Night." [Trio]. 9 pp. 11. Anon. "O sanctissima." [Duet]. 1 p. Not in index. 12. Handel, George Frederic (1685-1659). "T'amo sì." [Duet]. [Full score]. 12 pp. 13. Kent, James. (1700-1776). "Hear my prayer." [Anthem for two solo voices and four-part choir]. 10 pp. 14. Marcello, Benedetto (1686-1739). "My God, my God." [Solo]. [Full score]. 16 pp. 15. Marcello. "Da voi parto." [Solo cantata]. 10 pp. 16. Astorga, Emanuele. "Ruscelletto che vai." [Solo cantata]. 10 pp. 17. Clari. "Ecco Amor ecco Amore." [Trio]. 21 pp. 18. Astorga. "Oh che voi direste bene." [Duet]. 14 pp. 19. Caldara, Antonio (1671-1736). "Voi vene pentirete." [Duet]. 4 pp 20. Kent. "When the son of Man shall come." [Anthem for three voices]. 15 pp. Incomplete. All pieces in a single hand, with the exception of items 11 and 20, in two different hands. With "Lady Cornewall" in contemporary manuscript to upper margin of index; "1792" to upper outer corner and "554" to upper inner corner of first page. Occasional pencil annotations, including figured bass; half a measure canceled on p. 185. Disbound; first signature detached. Occasional small tears to edges; several minor inkstains to pp. 56-57; pp. 124-125 excised, likely due to a scribal error, with no loss of music; contemporary repairs to upper outer margin of p. 7; final leaf detached; remnants of red sealing wax to corners of index. It is notable that the all of the music in the present manuscript is drawn from repertoire significantly older than the manuscript's date of 1792, in some cases over 100 years earlier, performance of music of the past being a relatively novel concept at the time. The Academy of Ancient Music was "founded as the Academy of Vocal Music in 1726 to revive the glories of 16th- and 17th-century sacred music and madrigals. Again, though, it was the music itself rather than profit that provided the inspiration, the founders a mix of leading professionals and aristocratic enthusiasts; and again the society was formalized and admitted larger audiences as the century progressed - although these changes brought their own problems, with an increasing partiality for later Baroque music (including Handel's oratorios), and a gradual decline in missionary zeal for the older repertory." Simon McVeigh in Oxford Music Online "Lady Cornewall" was most likely Catherine Cornewall (1752-1835), wife of Sir George Amyand Cornewall (1748-1819), a portrait of whom by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The manuscript index is possibly in her hand. "Rather different in character was the collection made by the Cornewall family of Moccas Court, Herefordshire, which has almost entirely vanished. Fortunately a detailed and most interesting manuscript catalogue, dated 1796 and now owned by Albi Rosenthal, has survived. This was predominantly a vocal collection, amounting to about 2000 items, with some Italian bias, but besides Alessandro Scarlatti and Jomelli it extended to Gluck. A special section of the catalogue, dated 1795, contained music belonging to a Miss Cornewall, who also owned R.C.M. MSS.
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