BILLINGS, William (1746-1800). Music in miniature, containing a collection of psalm tunes of various metres. Set in score by W. Billings . [Boston]: Printed & sold by the author at his house in Boston, NE., 1779.
BILLINGS, William (1746-1800). Music in miniature, containing a collection of psalm tunes of various metres. Set in score by W. Billings . [Boston]: Printed & sold by the author at his house in Boston, NE., 1779. 16mo, 32pp. 131 x 85mm (5 3/16 x 3 3/8 in.). Engraved title and music by Benjamin Johnston (identified in imprint at bottom edge of title). Title with decorative scroll-work surrounding text. Alphabetical index in three columns on verso of title. Each page of music within line border, nine to twelve staves of music per page, most pages with three compositions, a few with two, for a total of 74 works, all for four voices, without text. (Edges and corners worn, small losses to title, a few titles at top cropped, browning). Stabbed and sewn. (Sewing damaged). Provenance : Colonel Jonathan Chase (1732-1800) of New Hampshire - David Hall Chase, a son (who wrote the additional music) -- Nathan Berkeley Chase (inscription, 1878, on blank page at end) -- The present owner, by descent. [Bound with:] Seventeen manuscript psalms and four fragmentary tunes notated on 15 leaves hand-ruled staff paper, some titles with decorative pen-work. Compositions added include "Maryland," "Boston," "Riemansworth," "A Christmas Hymn," etc. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE COLLECTION OF EARLY AMERICAN VOCAL MUSIC BY BILLINGS Billings, originally a tanner, became an accomplished musician, educator and the first American professional composer, publishing some 226 compsitions in his lifetime. Music in Miniature , one of his six separate publications, is the only one to feature Billing's own works with compositions by other, unnamed contributors (64 by Billings and other Americans, 10 by non-Americans). In a note at the bottom of the index page he explains that songs marked with an asterisk are "borrowed" from other sources, and those marked with a cross are borrowed "from my former book." Publshed by Billings at the height of the Revolutionary War, paper shortages may have been the reason for the work's unusually small format and condensed musical scoring. The 74 hyms in Music in Miniature include several of his most noteworthy compositions: "Africa," "Chester" (a Revolutionary War anthem), and "Creation." VERY RARE: while a number of copies are in instiutional collections, no copy of Music in Miniature has been recorded at auction in recent decades. Evans 16205; Sabin 5416; Britten, Loewens and Crawford, American Sacred Music Imprints 1698-1810 , p.175.
BILLINGS, William (1746-1800). Music in miniature, containing a collection of psalm tunes of various metres. Set in score by W. Billings . [Boston]: Printed & sold by the author at his house in Boston, NE., 1779.
BILLINGS, William (1746-1800). Music in miniature, containing a collection of psalm tunes of various metres. Set in score by W. Billings . [Boston]: Printed & sold by the author at his house in Boston, NE., 1779. 16mo, 32pp. 131 x 85mm (5 3/16 x 3 3/8 in.). Engraved title and music by Benjamin Johnston (identified in imprint at bottom edge of title). Title with decorative scroll-work surrounding text. Alphabetical index in three columns on verso of title. Each page of music within line border, nine to twelve staves of music per page, most pages with three compositions, a few with two, for a total of 74 works, all for four voices, without text. (Edges and corners worn, small losses to title, a few titles at top cropped, browning). Stabbed and sewn. (Sewing damaged). Provenance : Colonel Jonathan Chase (1732-1800) of New Hampshire - David Hall Chase, a son (who wrote the additional music) -- Nathan Berkeley Chase (inscription, 1878, on blank page at end) -- The present owner, by descent. [Bound with:] Seventeen manuscript psalms and four fragmentary tunes notated on 15 leaves hand-ruled staff paper, some titles with decorative pen-work. Compositions added include "Maryland," "Boston," "Riemansworth," "A Christmas Hymn," etc. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE COLLECTION OF EARLY AMERICAN VOCAL MUSIC BY BILLINGS Billings, originally a tanner, became an accomplished musician, educator and the first American professional composer, publishing some 226 compsitions in his lifetime. Music in Miniature , one of his six separate publications, is the only one to feature Billing's own works with compositions by other, unnamed contributors (64 by Billings and other Americans, 10 by non-Americans). In a note at the bottom of the index page he explains that songs marked with an asterisk are "borrowed" from other sources, and those marked with a cross are borrowed "from my former book." Publshed by Billings at the height of the Revolutionary War, paper shortages may have been the reason for the work's unusually small format and condensed musical scoring. The 74 hyms in Music in Miniature include several of his most noteworthy compositions: "Africa," "Chester" (a Revolutionary War anthem), and "Creation." VERY RARE: while a number of copies are in instiutional collections, no copy of Music in Miniature has been recorded at auction in recent decades. Evans 16205; Sabin 5416; Britten, Loewens and Crawford, American Sacred Music Imprints 1698-1810 , p.175.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
