Description
Provenance: Erik Palmstedt (1741-1803) by succession to his son Carl Palmstedt (1785-1870) then by gift to the library of the Royal Music Academy [Kungliga Musikaliska Akademiens Biblioteket] Stockholm in 1866 and thence to its successor body, the Music and Theatre Library of Sweden [Musik- och teaterbiblioteket], Stockholm in 1981.
Description: manuscript copy of the XXX Sonate per il clavicembalo (K1-K30) published by Gerhard Fredrik Witvogel, Amsterdam, 1742. 46ff, 28 x 23 cms, single batch of good quality laid paper, no watermark, pre-ruled with a 1 cm rastrum, twelve staves per page. Pages numbered by copyist. Bound in marbled paper boards, one green silk bookmark and one pink.
Front pastedown: shelf mark ‘P-R’ in pencil, letter ‘V’ in later red ink or crayon, (librarians’?) notes in pencil ‘Professor, K. Arkitekten Eric Palmstedt [+1803] / har afskrifvit dessa sonater under en vistelse / i Rom 1779 och 80 / Gåfva till Akad. af sonen, Carl Palmstedt, 1866. / -h-’ [Royal Architect Professor Eric Palmstedt [†1803] / copied these sonatas during his visit / to Rome in 1779 and 80 / Donated to the Academy by his son Carl Palmstedt in 1866. / -h-]
Flyleaf: shelf mark ‘P-R’ in pencil as above, library stamp bottom centre ‘KUNGl[iga] MUSIKALISKA AKADEMIENS BIBLIOTEK STOCKHOLM’ [Library of the Royal Music Academy Stockholm]. Reverse blank.
Title page: librarian’s note in pencil ‘[Sonat. Piano-.]’; ‘XXX Sonate / Per il / Clavicembalo / da / Dom: Scharlatti / Opera Prima’ in elaborate cartouche of musical instruments; (librarian’s) note in pencil at foot ‘Samma som 30 Sonate…Witvogel [1742]’ [Same as 30 Sonatas…Witvogel [1742]].
Reverse of title: near-literal transcription of the preface to the reader which first appeared in the Essercizi per gravicembalo (1738-39) and was reprinted by Witvogel in his edition: ‘Lettore / Non aspettarti, ò Dilettante ò / Professor che tu sia, in questi componimenti / il profondo intendimento dell’Arte, per ad / destrarti alla franchezza sul Clavicembalo. / Ne vista d’Interesse, ne mira d’Ambitione, / ma Ubedienza mossemi a publicarli. Forse ti / saranno aggradevoli, e piu volontieri allora / ubidirò ad altri commandi di compiacerti in / piu facile e variato stile: Monstrati dunque / più umano, che critico, et si accresserai le proprie / Dilettationi. Per accenarti la disposizione delle mani, avvisoti che dalla D. vien indicata la Dritta, e dalla / M. la Mancha; vive felice.’
Facing page: blank apart from KMA library stamp bottom centre as above. Pagination begins on verso to allow standard disposition on two or four facing pages throughout.
Rear pastedown: date in pencil ‘19 Nov 1758’, of dubious authenticity and significance.
Copyist: single (professional?) hand, most likely that of the architect Erik Palmstedt himself.
Comments: close copy of Witvogel in a very elegant hand with few errors or corrections other than the occasional clarification of note names written above or below, some contemporary, some later. Oddly, the preface omits the key phrase ‘ma bensi lo scherzo ingegnoso’, presumably by accident. The cartouche on the title page could conceivably be a reminiscence of the garland on the title page of the London edition of the Essercizi.
Contents:
| No |
Pages |
K |
No |
Pages |
K |
| Sonata I |
1–2 |
1 |
Sonata XVI |
37–40 |
16 |
| Sonata II |
3–4 |
2 |
Sonata XVII |
41–42 |
17 |
| Sonata III |
5–6 |
3 |
Sonata XVIII |
43–46 |
18 |
| Sonata IV |
7–8 |
4 |
Sonata XIX |
47–48 |
19 |
| Sonata V |
9–10 |
5 |
Sonata XX |
49–50 |
20 |
| Sonata VI |
11–12 |
6 |
Sonata XXI |
51–54 |
21 |
| Sonata VII |
13–16 |
7 |
Sonata XXII |
55–56 |
22 |
| Sonata VIII |
17–18 |
8 |
Sonata XXIII |
57–60 |
23 |
| Sonata IX |
19–20 |
9 |
Sonata XXIV |
61–64 |
24 |
| Sonata X |
21–22 |
10 |
Sonata XXV |
65–68 |
25 |
| Sonata XI |
23–24 |
11 |
Sonata XXVI |
69–72 |
26 |
| Sonata XII |
25–28 |
12 |
Sonata XXVII |
73–76 |
27 |
| Sonata XIII |
29–32 |
13 |
Sonata XXVIII |
77–80 |
28 |
| Sonata XIV |
33–34 |
14 |
Sonata XXIX |
81–84 |
29 |
| Sonata XV |
35–36 |
15 |
Sonata XXX |
85–88 |
30 |
