The Divine Musick Scholar's Guide. Being a Choice Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Hymns, and Anthems ….
Sreeve, John.
London: A. Pearson, et al, 1740.
Price:
$1,500.00
About the item
First edition. [ii], xxiv, 86 pp., with type-set musical notation throughout. 8vo. Contemporary speckled sheep. Worn, joints cracked, small library or auction label to front cover. ESTC T16125 (8 copies).
Item #316587
First edition of this collection of original psalm settings. The author bemoans the contemporary status of music in the preface and attacks the naysayers: "But alas! In this our Age, the right Use of Musick is not only prophaned, but also condemn'd by so many ignorant and blind Zealots … He that dwelleth in the Heavens shall laugh them to scorn: and shall bruise them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel." Explanations follow of the clefs, musical notation, scales, intervals, transposition and some rudiments of harmony, with the main body of the text, 86 pp. devoted to 4-part hymns and psalms and verse anthems, all composed by the author, John Sreeve, organist at Warwick and Master of Psalmody. He is also the author of The Oxfordshire Harmony (1741).
