WESTMORLAND, John Fane, Earl of.

Il Torneo. Opera Seria. Posta in Musica da Lord Burghersh e Dedicata a Sua Altezza Reale La Duchessa di Cambridge. [Vocal score].

London, T. Boosey & Co., [1839]. Folio, pp. [4], 3, [3], 211, [1]; printed dedication dated 4 May 1839 to Queen Victoria; engraved music; with a 3–page List of Subscribers; some offsetting, stamp of Alessandro Kraus figlio to title and a couple of other leaves; generally a good copy in the original publisher’s printed boards, corners and head and tail of spine reinforced. First edition; with a presentation inscription on the title: ‘La Principessa Eliza Poniatowski da parte del’autore e con mille complimenti’. Il Torneo, an opera seria, was first performed at carnival 1829 at the composer’s residence in Florence; it was revived on 18 July 1835 at St James’s Theatre, London.John Fane (1784–1859) or Lord Burghersh, later 11th Earl of Westmorland, a politician and diplomat, ‘… was one of the most influential amateur musicians of his day. He was an accomplished violinist and a prolific composer, and had studied music under Charles Hague at Cambridge. He held firmly to a belief in the inferiority of all musical styles to the Italian … [his compositions] included seven operas, composed between 1821 and 1849 (most of them first performed at his own residence in Florence), three symphonies, and a number of choral works. His greatest importance was as the founder of the Royal Academy of Music in 1823. It was largely through Burghersh’s efforts at fund-raising and lobbying that Britain’s first conservatory of music came into existence, and, despite conflicts with the professorial staff caused by his authoritarian and dictatorial behaviour – he insisted on restricting the programmes of the academy’s concerts to Italian music and his own compositions – it was largely through his support that it survived the precarious early years of its existence’ (Oxford DNB). OCLC lists only a copy at Cambridge University. Although the Royal Academy of Music is listed among the subscribers for two copies, no copy appears in their present catalogue.

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• 订书号：: F1195

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