Old Colony Collection of Anthems. Selected and Published Under the Particular Patronage and Direction of the Old Colony Musical Society in Plymouth County, and the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston. Vol. I.

Boston: Printed and Sold by James Loring, No. 2, Cornhill, 1818. First edition(?). Ownership inscription on title page. In contemporary, probably publisher's half leather, with gilt-stamped red calf ownership label mounted on front cover. Cover rubbed, artistically restored. Pages browned, stained. Overall in very good condition.. First edition(?). Ownership inscription on title page. In contemporary, probably publisher's half leather, with gilt-stamped red calf ownership label mounted on front cover. 196 p. [pp. 149-164 misnumbered: 145-160].

This, the first volume of Old Colony Collection of Anthems was published jointly by the Old Colony Musical Society in Plymouth and the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston and formed the backbone of the latter's repertoire in its early years.

The Handel and Haydn Society (H+H) which is today the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, was founded in Boston in 1815 with the aim of "cultivating and improving a correct taste in the performance of Sacred Music, and also to introduce into more general practice, the works of Handel, Haydn, and other eminent composers".

This collection includes anthems, excerpts from oratorios, and other works for varied choral forces, primarily unaccompanied chorus scores for 2-5 voices, some with organ accompaniment, by composers like Purcell, Handel, Haydn, Mozart.

The binding is similar to the Harvard copy (Loeb Music Merritt Room Mus 490.3.2; HOLLIS No. 006997079) that also holds a gilt-lettered ownership label on the front panel (Josiah Wheelwright, 1821). Our copy has an ownership inscription on the title page, and it belonged to James Hooton (1801-1874) the Bostonian composer, member of the Boston Brigade Band and probably the H+H.

Scarce, and early American music score.

Shaw & Shoemaker 45153

[Ref.: Jones, Todd R.: e Relationship Between Lowell Mason and the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, 1815-1827. (2017.) Theses and Dissertations-Music. 83. pp. 116-119. URL: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/83.; Johnson, H. Earle: Musical Interludes in Boston. 1795-1830. New York: Columbia University Press, 1943. pp. 233-234.]

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