192 - [MANUSCRIPT - MUSIC]. Act II of the opera *La Vestale* by Spontini, arranged [sic] for piano-forte for four hands by F.H. Pisebel.

[MANUSCRIPT - MUSIC]. Act II of the opera *La Vestale* by Spontini, arranged [sic] for piano-forte for four hands by F.H. Pisebel. A beautiful 19th-century music manuscript, featuring exquisite calligraphy. 1 title page and 70 pages of handwritten music in a quarto-sized volume, unbound, with a period cardboard binding in grained paper, smooth, unmarked spine. Normal wear and tear on the cardboard binding. A musical manuscript from the Romantic era. The title page is elegantly calligraphed in fine, flowing English script in black ink. The entire musical text is rendered with the same care, in ink that has remained quite dense. The regular and clear handwriting attests to the meticulous attention to detail of a professional musician. This four-hand arrangement reflects the practice of the time: to recreate the power and richness of opera pieces in bourgeois salons. Premiered in Paris in 1807, *La Vestale* by Gaspare Spontini (1774–1851) is the defining opera of the First Empire. Act II forms the dramatic climax and musical high point: the vestal virgin Julia is torn between her religious vow and her passion for General Licinius. Overwhelmed by emotion, she commits the worst of sacrileges by allowing the sacred fire to go out. Our manuscript includes the major showpieces of this act, including Julia’s poignant cavatina, Licinius’s cavatina, the famous aria “Impitoyables dieux,” and the monumental finale. Stamp of the “Berset-Müllerstiftung” in Gümlingen (Switzerland), a foundation established in 1894 that originally served as a retirement and nursing home for teachers and their widows. In very good condition.