MADRIGALS. (With) PHILIPS, Peter.

£13,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

A fascinating collection of four rare Renaissance part books for madrigals in French and Italian, printed in Antwerp by the musical publisher Pierre Phalèse, purchased and bound together by their original owner, including songs in Italian by the noted English composer and organist Peter Philips (c.1560-1628). Hieronymus van Winge, who appears to have noted individual purchases of separate parts prior to their being bound together, was a canon at the cathedral in Tournai. He came from a wealthy family, and there is evidence of his collecting a wide range of books and prints, including from the Plantin-Moretus press. The book is also evidence of his possible participation in musical gatherings. Madrigal part books were published with all the vocal parts appearing consecutively, which could then be split up and divided among the singers, each receiving all the songs in their own part, as here. Owning a set of single parts such as this would therefore imply participation in a group of singers; it was of course possible for singers to purchase only their own part. Italian madrigal music was extremely popular in Antwerp, perhaps more so than anywhere else in Europe besides Italy, due in part to the large Genoese merchant population. Il Trionfo di Dori contains music by some of the most significant Italian composers of the time, including Gabrieli, Palestrina, Croce, Anerio, Gastoldi and Striggio. First published 1592, it was dedicated to a prominent Venetian nobleman, Leonardo Sanu

• Binding: Hardcover

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