Pages from one of Francesco Corbetta’s compositions in a 17th century manuscript collection of pieces for guitar that sold for £110,000 at Sotheby’s.
Billed as an unstudied and unpublished source by Sotheby’s (26/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) on November 30, where bidding reached £110,000, it presents 72 pieces for the five-course baroque guitar, among them six for guitar duets.
Most are sarabandes, gigues and other dance music compositions and some 32 of them are found in no other source, said the cataloguer.
Nineteen pieces are attributable to Francesco Corbetta (c.1615-81), the most significant and prolific virtuoso and composer for the instrument of his time. Five books of his music were published in the years 1639-74.
In the 1660s-70s Corbetta made two lengthy visits to London, where he gave guitar lessons to Charles II and members of the nobility.
