We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2019
With their Symphonys introduc'd in a Compleat man.r
Two more volumes of The Ladys Entertainment appeared in 1709 and 1711, once again focused on arrangements of songs from the latest operas (see table 3.1). Unlike their predecessors in books 1 and 2, these arrangements had not previously appeared as serial publications; presumably by this time Walsh was confident enough about his market simply to issue the entire volumes. In William Babell, he had found an arranger able to transform the arias into something closer to idiomatic keyboard music, while remaining more or less accessible to the amateur player. The keyboard versions include, as the titles suggest, the “symphonies,” or instrumental ritornellos and accompaniment, providing a fuller picture of each aria as presented on stage.
The 3d Book of the Ladys Entertainment or Banquet of Musick being A Choice Collection of the most Celebrated Aires & Duets in the Opera's of Pyrrhus & Clotilda Curiously Set and Fitted to the Harpsicord or Spinnet: With their Symphonys introduc'd in a Compleat man.r by Mr: Wm: Babel. (London: Walsh and Hare, [1709])
The 4th Book of the Ladys Entertainment or Banquet of Musick being A Choice Collection of the most Celebrated Aires & Duets in the Opera's of Hydaspes & Almahide Curiously Set and Fitted to the Harpsicord or Spinnet: With their Symphonys introduc'd in a Compleat man.r by Mr: Wm: Babel. (London: Walsh and Hare, [1711])
Each book draws from two operas: book 3 from Pyrrhus and Demetrius (opened December 14, 1708) and Clotilda (March 2, 1709), and book 4 from Almahide (January 10, 1710) and Hydaspes (May 23, 1710). A single aria from Clotilda is added to complete book 4. Like Thomyris and Love's Triumph, these four pasticcios were based upon works of several Italian composers, adapted by musicians and wordsmiths in London. Nichola Haym (1678–1729), a cellist active in the opera orchestras, had adapted arias by Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) and contributed some of his own for the December 1708 production of Pyrrhus; John Jacob Heidegger (1666–1749) chose the music for Clotilda, drawing mainly from Francesco Bartolomeo Conti (ca. 1681–1732), a theorbist at the Hapsburg court whose Clotilde may have been performed there in 1706. Arias by Scarlatti and A. M. Bononcini (1677–1726) were also included in the London version.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
