XX Sonate per Cembalo Di Varri[!] Autorri ... Prix 12tt. ... Avec Privilege du Roi. Gravée par Melle. Vendôme by ALBERTI, Domenico ca. 1710-1746, Baldassare Galuppi 1706-1785; Benedetto Marcello 1686-1739; Domenico Merola fl. 18th century; Domenico Scarlatti 1685-1757; Giovanni Maria Tasso fl. 18th century - 1755

Paris: Mr. Vernadez ... Mr. Bayard ... Melle. Castagneri, 1755. Folio. Contemporary stencilled boards with decorative cut-paper manuscript title label to upper. 1f. (recto title with decorative border, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-25 pp.

With early manuscript note to title label signed "Gustave."

Includes 2 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (K80 and K125); 11 by Alberti; 2 each by Galuppi, Marcello, and Tasso; and 1 by Merola.

Binding worn and abraded. Very minor wear and soiling; minor dampstaining to upper left margin of first few leaves and minor staining to upper margin of last few leaves; inner margin of title and blank verso of p. 25 with paper reinforcement. In very good condition internally overall. First Edition. Rare. OCLC (4 copies in the U.S.). Hopkinson 25. Longo 272 and 487. RISM BII p. 367.

Galuppi, an Italian composer, "was a central figure in the development of the dramma giocoso and one of the most important mid-18th-century opera seria composers. Known widely as 'Il Buranello', from his birthplace, he was routinely listed in Venetian documents and early manuscripts as 'Baldissera'." Dale E. Monson in Grove Music Online

Alberti was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and singer. "[His] claim to historical recognition rests traditionally on his harpsichord sonatas, in which the arpeggiated bass that lent his name a posthumous notoriety is a prominent feature (see Alberti bass). In his lifetime, however, Alberti was equally famous as a singer and as a performer (sometimes as self-accompanist) on the harpsichord." Michael Talbot in Grove Music Online

Marcello, an Italian composer and writer, "followed the career path of all Venetian nobles of his time: he was admitted to the Maggior Consiglio of the Republic on 4 December 1706 and, after completing studies in literature and law, served in various magistracies over the next two decades ... Of Marcello's keyboard works, the sonatas are the most important, for they seem to have played a role in the establishment of the genre as it was later developed by Platti, Pescetti, Galuppi and J.C. Bach." Eleanor Selfridge-Field in Grove Music Online

The presentation of a fully Italian compilation of keyboard pieces for music consumers in 1750s Paris can be viewed in light of the Querelle des Bouffons, a "musical and literary dispute waged in Paris between 1752 and 1754 over the respective merits of French and Italian opera. The performance at the Opéra, on 1 August 1752, of Pergolesi's intermezzo La serva padrona by an Italian troupe under the direction of Eustachio Bambini is commonly believed to have instigated this controversy, but the seeds of the crisis had been sown months before the Italians' arrival in Paris. The subsequent quarrel, which engaged many leading philosophical figures of the time and resulted in the publication of over 60 letters and pamphlets, used Bambini's troupe, which was popularly known as the 'Bouffons', as a cover for voicing ideas of a profound political significance." Elisabeth Cook in Grove Music Online

A rich compilation of Italian sonatas, some drawn from well-known composers and others quite obscure, attesting to the popularity of Italian musical styles in 18th century France and the demand for them.