Beschreibung:

MUSIC]. BISHOP, Sir HENRY ROWLEY, author of "Home Sweet Home." Autograph musical manuscript signed of the opera "Cortez; or, The Conquest of Mexico. Opera in Three Acts," [London], "Performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, November 5th 1823." 333 pages, oblong 4to, comprising: manuscript title-page by Bishop, signed, [ Concert Overture ], (2pp.), Opening Chorus (22pp.), Act I (12 Sections, 157pp.), Act II (5 sections, 84pp.), Act III (4 sections, 68pp.), most sections titled at head, signed and dated by Bishop, full score, music notated in ink on staff paper of 16 staves, with instruments, voice and chorus parts carefully labelled by the composer, each vocal part with full text underlay, occasional stage directions, ("During the Symphony, the Soldiers Enter, in groups, from various parts of the stage...") noted by Bishop, later quarter black morocco gilt, covers detached, A WORKING MANUSCRIPT, with many erasures, rewritten passages and other corrections by the composer. Sir Henry Bishop (1786-1855) studied with an Italian master, Francesco Bianchi, and composed his first operatic work in 1804, achieving great success in 1806 with Tamerlan et Bajezet , followed by a long series of operas, ballets, pantomime-ballets, incidental music and music-dramatic compositions (plus adaptations from Mozart, Rossini, Meyerbeer and others). The opera Cortez was first performed on November 5, 1823, at the Théatre Royal, about six months after the premiere of Bishop's opera very popular Clari, Or The Maid of Milan , which featured the perenially popular song "Home Sweet Home," with words by John Howard Payne. Cortez , based on the Spanish conquest of the Aztec civilization, enjoyed a modest popularity. It features solo voices, including the characters of "Marina," "Sandoval," "Acacis," "Velazquez de Leon," "Amazitli" and "Diego de Ordaz"; some numbers call for a "Chorus of Mexicans" (Aztec opponents of Cortez). The score incorporates various dances, including a "Round and March of Mexicans," "Mexican March" and "Spanish March (in imitation of Spanish style)." Interestingly, Bishop notes on the title-page that, in the first performance, the overture to another opera "The Law of Java" was substituted for the present overture. Bishop, one critic has written, "was possessed of a singularly fertile vein of melody, in which the [English] national character can be perpetually recognized, although the dress in which it is presented is rather Italian than English..." (W. Barclay Squire, in DNB).