Gifts and Acquisitions 41

ber of wild rumors to the effect that he had been poisoned on orders by
Queen Caroline of Naples for being a dangerous revolutionary. To calm
the public, the Queen's own physician conducted a post-mortem exami-
nation which revealed that Cimarosa had succumbed to a tumor in the
stomach.

Il Matrimonio segreto, a comic opera in two acts, was a smashing suc-
cess, with an extraordinary number of performances. Today it remains
the one Cimarosa opera in the active repertoire, and for good reason.
The composer was an expert at creating amusing opera buffa. As testi-
mony to its popularity, the music continued to be published throughout
the nineteenth century in various editions, arrangements, and excerpts.
Although the Sibley Library already owns several early editions, in-
cluding full scores issued in Paris by lmbault (early nineteenth century)
and by Louis (ca. 1812), as well as piano/vocal scores published in Leip-
zig by Breitkopf und Hartel in the 1840’s, by Peters in 1871, and by
Reclam; the Italian Ricordi’s issue of the 1860’s, and some twentieth-
century editions, the present music is a piano/vocal score arranged by
Arnold and issued in Bonn by Simrock in 1802—1803, an earlier score
than any of the others in our collection.

The Classical master, Joseph Haydn (1732—1809), wrote some 82
string quartets, The present edition, entitled Collection complette des
Quatuors d’Haydn, dedie'e au Premier Consul Bonaparte, and printed
in Paris by Pleyel, dates from the early part of the nineteenth century. It
is the first known collection of the quartets, although it does not include
the entire l-laydn output in the genre. The set consists of four separate
volumes, each devoted to the part to be performed by the first and sec-
ond violinists, the violist, and the cellist.

The third piano concerto by Beethoven (1770—1827) was composed in
1800 and heralded a new century as well as a new and individual style in
the works of the thirty—year-old composer. The composition also
marked the beginning of an unprecedented symphonic texture for the
piano concerto. A work of large proportions, the piece capitalizes upon
both the virtuosity and the sensitivity of the soloist while simultaneous—
ly maintaining the importance of the orchestra, and has consistently re—
mained in the repertoire. Although the Sibley Library possesses many
editions of the concerto, it did not hitherto have the present score, a con—
densation of the orchestral music into two staves and a presentation of
the solo piano part in larger print; the publication was by Tobias and
Haslinger in Vienna in the 1840's.

Schumann's Piano Quintet, his sole work for the combination of
piano with string quartet, is represented in the Mann gift by an edition of
the score and performing parts published by Breitkopf und Hartel dur-