When Cardinal Ottoboni died in Rome in 1740, he was in possession of a huge library of music for which he was the Patron. Part of these works were twelve sonatas that had not seen much play save by a few associates of the composer. The bulk of the music was bought by the English musical scholar Edward Holdsworth.

Over the next nearly two centuries the works passed from owner to owner, until, at a Sotheby’s auction in 1918 they were purchased by the renowned musicologist of the time, Newman Flower. Now, Flower was a Handel scholar and spent most of his illustrious career studying and promoting Handel’s work, so many other arrangements in his possession were left by the way-side to wither in obscurity. Following Flower’s death, much of his collection was passed on to the Manchester Library. It was there in 1973 that another musicologist, Michael Talbot, came across the twelve sonatas in question, and he was struck by the name on the sheets:

Antonio Vivaldi. Continue reading New Music: Mark Fewer & Hank Knox Revive Vivaldi’s Lost ‘Manchester Sonatas’ →