The 'Disjecta membra' project reunites musical prints in Lugano and London

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

The Biblioteca Salita dei frati in Lugano (CH-LUbsf), which, among other things, brings together the ancient collections of the libraries of the Ticino Capuchin monasteries, also holds a small number of historical music sources. One of these turned out to be a unique copy: the alto and basso continuo parts of the ‘Concerti ecclesiastici’, the first (and last) work printed by the organist of Pavia Cathedral, Giovanni Battista Martinengo. The collection includes 29 motets for one, two and three voices and basso continuo, some with accompaniment by one or two violins. Until now, only the soprano part of this 1668 music print was known, which is preserved in the British Library in London (GB-Lbl). Thanks to the targeted digitisation project Disjecta membra, which virtually reconstructs music editions from part-books that have found their way into different libraries, it is now possible to consult all the preserved parts. It is remarkable that the Lugano and London sources originally belonged to the same set of parts, as the same pattern on the coloured cardboard cover reveals. Unfortunately, it is not known how the sources arrived at their current location.