Rare books from J & J Lubrano Music Antiquarians LLC

Oblong folio (236 x 322 mm.). 2 pp. 206 measures of music notated on 20 hand-ruled staves in dark brown ink on both sides of a single leaf. Mostly on 3-stave braces, but also on 2- and 4-stave braces. With numerous corrections, deletions, and corrections; 2 entire measures canceled. Browned, but on good quality laid paper and in very good condition overall. Attached at corners to thin window mat, at the foot of which is an inscription in an unknown 19th century hand in German identifying the manuscript as follows (in translation): "Original manuscript by Carl Maria von Weber. The present piece is the first draft of the chorus and ballet from the third act of Oberon. Thanks to its bouncy, exquisite melody, it became a favorite of the German people even before the opera's first performance, based solely on the piano-vocal score. The draft has English text because Weber composed Oberon, which was destined for London, with English text to get as close as possible to the spirit of the nation. This… Read More

Large folio (400 x 300 mm.). 1 page. The opening 15 measures of the first act of the opera, Notated on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium in black ink on 32-stave paper with watermark "Papeteries de Leysse pres Chambrey = F." With autograph titling, signature, and annotation "Erster Aufzug. Einleitung" and "Stürmisch bewegt" to head of page and with a dedicatory inscription to the director of the Paris Opéra and Opéra Comique, Jacques Rouché (1862-1957) to foot, signed and dated Garmisch, 10 January 1937. Some light browning and staining to lower margin; remnants of sewing thread to spine. In very good condition overall. Mueller von Asow I, 467. Trenner 227. Der Rosenkavalier, a comic opera in three acts to a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, was first performed on 26 January 1911 in Dresden at the Königliches Opernhaus with great success, quickly entering the international repertory. "The music glories in Hofmannsthal's text, which satisfied Strauss like nothing before. It was… Read More

The opening four measures signed in full ("Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy") and titled "Wedding March" at upper left. No date, but 1840s. Ca. 56 x 141 mm. Slightly worn, browned, and soiled; small tear professionally repaired. Composed in 1842 and first performed in Potsdam on 14 October 1843, Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" became one of the most widely recognized and best-loved pieces of classical music following its use at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria in 1858. See Fuld: The Book of World-Famous Music (2006), p. 633. "Undoubtedly the most celebrated of Mendelssohn's incidental music are the 12 numbers and finale composed in 1843 for A Midsummer Night's Dream, which include entr'acte movements (among them the Scherzo, Nocturne and famous Wedding March) ... One of the most gifted and versatile prodigies, Mendelssohn stood at the forefront of German music during the 1830s and 40s, as conductor, pianist, organist and, above all, composer. His musical style, fully developed… Read More

Mainz: Bourgeat, 1688. Oblong quarto. Early vellum boards with borders decorative black stamping and cornerpieces with floral motif. 1f. (recto fine frontispiece engraving by I.P. Aubry depicting musicians, musical instruments and putti with formal gardens in background, verso blank), 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (recto preface, verso index), 129 pp. Music engraved throughout. With attractive engraving of two putti, one holding a violin-like instrument and the other an open book of music, to head of first page of music. Contains a total of 28 works for violin. Binding slightly worn, soiled and warped; lower stained; worming to endpapers with archival repairs; lacking rear free endpaper. Slightly browned; minor defects to a number of leaves archivally repaired. First Edition. Of considerable rarity. BUC, p. 1054. RISM W187 (one copy only in North America plus six copies elsewhere). Wolffheim, 1531 (the second edition of 1694). Not in Hirsch. Kinsky: History of Music in Pictures, p. 180… Read More

London: Longman & Broderip, 26 Cheapside, 1779. Folio. Full dark blue morocco with titling gilt to spine, edges and inner dentelles gilt. [1] (blank), 2-4 pp., with chorus and 5 additional verses to lower portion of page 3 and versions "For the Guitar" and "For the German Flute" to page 4. On good quality laid paper. Several minor tears to inner blank margins professionally repaired. An attractive copy, handsomely bound. First Edition, first issue, of the tune that became known as "The Star Spangled Banner." Very rare. Sonneck: The Star Spangled Banner (1914) 1a, p. 41. Muller p. 15. Filby and Howard: Star-Spangled Books, S1, p. 127. Fuld pp. 529-534. College Music Symposium 18/2, Fall 1978, pp. 34-81. BUC p. 1011. RISM S3705 (not distinguishing among issues). The present first issue carries only the Cheapside address of the publisher; the second and third issues were entirely re-engraved and carry the "No. 13 Hay Market" address as well. The song was written in the 1770s as the constitutional… Read More

15 measures, titled and signed below the music: "Thème e Bal e La Symphonie Fantastique. H. Berlioz." Undated, but ca. 1840-1850. The complete main theme of the second movement, "Un Bal," carried by the violins in measures 38 to 54 of the full score. 1 leaf. Notated in dark brown ink within decorative dark gold borders on Lard-Esnault paper. Oblong quarto (227 x 300 mm). With: - Gustave-Hippolyte Roger (1825-1879). Autograph musical quotation signed "G. Roger," being a 12-measure song for voice and piano commencing "d'autiens tu beau miage sur les ailes du vent?," to lower portion of recto. With, to verso: - Adolphe Adam (1803-1856). Autograph musical quotation signed "Ad. Adam," being a 16-measure waltz for piano - Fromental Halévy (1799-1862). Autograph musical quotation signed "F. Halévy," being a 22-measure work for piano titled "Suite" "The composition of the 'Symphonie fantastique' was a momentous event in Berlioz's career, his first full-scale masterpiece, and equally momentous in the… Read More

Basileae: Henrichvm Petri, 1547. Folio. Full mid-tan mottled calf with double rules gilt to edges of boards, raised bands on spine in decorative compartments gilt. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 2ff. (preface), [i] ("Authorum, qui in hoc opere citantur Nomenclatur"), [iii] (contents of Liber I-III), 1f. ("Cantiones Mensurales" index), 4ff. (index), 470 pp. + [v] (errata), [i] (printer's device) pp. Extensively illustrated with type-set musical examples in square and diamond-head notation and woodcut illustrations, diagrams, and tables throughout, including a full-page illustration of a 24-string zither. With occasional historiated and decorative woodcut initials. Corrections and some annotations in early manuscript to numerous leaves; one name on list of authors crossed out. In three books: Book I, based principally on Boethius and Gafori, deals with several aspects of traditional music theory: definitions of music solmization, the structure of the gamut, mutation, transposition, consonance and… Read More

23 measures in total in short score. Notated in black ink on both sides of a fragment of rastrum-ruled music manuscript paper 239 x 62 mm., cut from a larger leaf, with 12 measures on recto and 11 on verso. Unsigned and undated, but ca. 1889. A working manuscript containing thematic material from the first movement of the symphony, with corrections and deletions. Slightly worn and browned; minor staining to lower margin, slightly creased at horizontal fold; trimmed at lower margin, with some loss of notation to final 6 measures of recto and final 6 measures on verso. Together with: A bust-length postcard photograph of the composer, with "Printed in Germany" to verso. Dvořák's Eighth Symphony, op. 88, in G major, was first performed in Prague on 2 February 1890 by the National Theatre Orchestra, with the composer conducting. Burghauser 163. Sourek 109. "In its formal aspect ... the G major symphony ranks among Dvořák's most independent and original symphonic works." Sourek: The Orchestral… Read More

Venice: Impressa in Vinegia per maestro Bernardino et maestro Mattheo di uitali fratelli Venitiani, 1523. Full vellum with title gilt to spine. 1f. (early manuscript on vellum with decorative initials in red ink and decorative penwork in red and blue, decorative pointers in black), 1f. (recto title printed in red within highly decorative woodcut border, verso privilege), 1f. (dedication to Sebastiano Michele) with historiated initial), 2ff. (contents and full-page woodcut portrait of Aron), 21ff. Libro Primo, 1f. (recto full page plate "Coligatio Notvlar," verso blank), 28ff. Libro Secondo, 1f. (early manuscript). With occasional decorative and historiated initials. With numerous finely-printed musical examples and diagrams throughout. Unpaginated, but 54ff. in total, with L4 blank, as issued. In Italian. The fine full-length portrait of Aron depicts the author seated surrounded by his pupils, with a viol, lute, recorder and books on a table in the foreground, all within a densely floriated border… Read More

Berlin: Schlesinger [PN 1570], 1830. Folio. Contemporary leather-backed marbled boards, portion of old paper title label to spine. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [iv] (list of subscribers), viii (letterpress text of the Mass in German), 5-324 pp. engraved music. Small 19th century monogrammatic blindstamps of the publisher with initials "A.S." to blank lower corners of title. Binding somewhat worn, rubbed, and bumped; small tear to head of spine; upper hinge split. Moderate foxing to title, with price of piano-vocal score added in manuscript and with early numbering and other annotations in manuscript, one crossed out; preliminary leaves slightly foxed; music slightly browned and with some foxing, more pronounced to final 10 leaves; some signatures loose or split; tear to title and following leaf with old paper repairs; light purple ink spotting to pp. 29/30, 61/62, 75-78, and 129. Occasional light performance markings in pencil. First Edition. Rare. Schneider 111. Fuld, p. 171. Hoboken I, 26.… Read More

Milano: [Printed by Guillermus Le Signerre for Johannes Petrus de Lomatio], 1496. Quarto (ca. 265 x 185 mm). Full modern ivory pigskin with central blindstamped decorative device and cornerpieces within double-ruled and decoratively blindstamped borders, raised bands on spine with titling gilt and decorative devices to head and foot. 1f. (recto title, verso register of signatures), [i] (blank), [ii] (contents of the four books), [iii] (dedication to Louis Mary Sforza, duke of the Milanese, and 22-line poem on the cosmic characteristics of the modes by Lucinus Conagi) (= 4ff.) Liber Primus: a1-b8, c1-6 (= 22ff.) Liber Secundus: aa1-bb8, cc5 (= 21ff.) Liber Tertius: cc6-8, dd1-ee5 (= 16ff.) Liber Quartus: ee6-8, ff1-kk8, ll1-5 (= 48ff.), 1f. (blank). 112 leaves in total, including final blank. 38 long lines to the full page. With colophon to verso of final leaf. The fine woodcut title illustrates the different measures and the Muses and their corresponding signs of the Zodiac. It… Read More

Oblong octavo (101 x 160 mm. ). The first 8 measures. Notated in black ink on four staves, the four vocal parts incorporated into one stave. Inscribed below the quote: "Gesang der Pilger aus Tannhäuser, und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg ... von Richard Wagner." With the date "Janu. 3d, 1846" in the hand of the British concert manager and critic John Ella (1802-1888) at lower left, presumably the day on which Wagner both penned the quotation and presented it to Ella. Together with: An original 19th century photograph of Wagner, 82 x 53 mm. The composer is depicted half-length, turned left, with his right hand extending into jacket pocket. Together with: A 1-page (167 x 245 mm.) autograph statement in Ella's hand relating how he acquired the present autograph: "The property of Prof. Ella, 9 Victoria Square S.W, XI/113. Written in my Album and presented to me in Dresden as a memento of my visit & a token of friendship. This Autograph was exhibited in the 'Loan Collection' at South Kensington 1885… Read More

Nürnberg: J. Petreius, 1540. Small quarto (182 x 137 cm). Modern half mid-tan calf with speckled boards, raised bands on spine in decorative compartments gilt, dark red leather title label gilt, red edges. [i] (title with woodcut device), [xi] ("Epistola," with indices to both books to final leaf), 163, [i] (blank) pp. With numerous musical examples type-set in diamond-head notation, diagrams, and small decorative woodcut initials throughout. With early signature ("Oswold") to title, additional musical notation and annotation to margin of p. 17, and manuscript presentation inscription to upper margin of blank verso of final leaf. Uniform light browning; upper and lower margins very slightly trimmed, not at all affecting printed text but just touching signature to title and inscription to final leaf. A very good, crisp copy overall. The second, expanded edition of the work first printed in 1537. Rare. Davidsson p. 43. Gregory-Bartlett p. 123. Hirsch I, 246 (title in facsimile). Reese no. 38.… Read More

Folio (350 x 270 mm; 13.8" x 10.65"). 88 measures in condensed score notated on 2 pp. of a single leaf in pencil on 32-stave music paper. Most likely dating from 1939 or 1940, during which time Strauss was composing the work in the Swiss town of Baden and in Garmisch in Germany. With an autograph inscription in ink signed in full: "Dr Èugen Zador zur Erinnerung an der 22 Nov. 1946 ... ergeben Dr. Richard Strauss, Baden." A working manuscript with a number of corrections and alterations; one measure extending into margin. With music close to the end of Act III of the opera, from performance number 114-122 (pp. 310-315 in the first edition piano-vocal score of 1944). The characters Jupiter (baritone) and Danae (soprano) are singing, commencing with Jupiter's "Nah das Ange! Nah der Arm and Danae's "So bleibe der Ferne bei sei-nem Glanze." The music in this manuscript draft differs significantly from that found in the published score. Trenner 278. Mueller von Asow p. 1015. Die Liebe der Danae, an… Read More

One small oblong leaf (48 x 26 mm; 1.8" x 8.1"). 4 measures (corresponding to measures 24-27 of the first movement). Notated in black ink on a single hand-ruled stave. Browned; small slightly lighter area to blank lower margin; ink very slightly feathered. Matted with a fine original head-and-shoulders etching of the composer looking left, signed in pencil by the noted Viennese artist Ferdinand Michl (1877-1951) at lower right margin. 212 x 170 mm. Bruckner composed his Eighth Symphony between 1884 and 1887 and revised it extensively between 1889 and 1890. The revised version had its premiere in Vienna on 18 December 1892 with considerable success. "The origin of the Eighth Symphony, in C minor, which Bruckner believed to be his finest, presents the picture of a titanic struggle with its recalcitrant material, the skepticism of friends and foes and the increasing physical disabilities of oncoming old age. It is a work conceived on a heroic scale and the reflection of a truly heroic soul,… Read More