Hidden in Plain Sight: Musical Treasures in the Penn Library Curated by Marjorie Hassen Otto E. Albrecht Music Library University of Pennsylvania

Vivaldi's Vth Concerto Vivaldi's Vth Concerto [L'estro armonico no. 5] Copied by Francis Hopkinson in his Lessons Manuscript, ca. 1760 Folio M 1 A11 H6 v. 12 A lawyer by profession and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the patriot and poet Francis Hopkinson was also an accomplished amateur organist, harpsichordist, and composer. Hopkinson was born in Philadelphia and graduated what was then the College of Philadelphia--later the University of Pennsylvania. He stood at the center of musical life in colonial Philadelphia, serving as organist for Christ Church and joining with professional musicians to present concerts of secular music. With the 1788 publication in Philadelphia of his Seven songs for the harpsichord or forte piano, Hopkinson credited himself with being "the first native of the United States who has produced a musical composition." Hopkinson assembled a personal music collection of great breadth and sophistication, most of which is now housed in Penn's Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Large bound volumes preserve hundreds of eighteenth-century editions of the Italianate music favored in London drawing rooms. Hopkinson himself copied out four manuscript volumes for his own use. Among the composers represented are Handel, Scarlatti, Stamitz, Vivaldi, and the composer and harpsichordist James Bremner, with whom he studied.

Table of Contents Introduction Manuscript Collections: Institutions Manuscript Collections: Individuals Sheet Music Images Conducting Scores Music Manuscripts: 15th-18th Centuries Music Manuscripts: 19th & 20th Centuries Landmarks of Music Theory