ABSTRACT
This chapter draws attention to a neglected late seventeenth-century manuscript of Italian secular vocal music in the library of the University of Birmingham (UK). There are at least three reasons why the manuscript deserves to be better known. First, it appears to be one of the volumes missing from the "original Stradella collection", an important early group of sources of music by Alessandro Stradella- and sheds new light on the scope and compilation of that collection. Second, since the manuscript contains unique copies of five pieces, two by Stradella and one each by Giovanni Battista Vulpio, Giacomo Simonelli and Ercole Bernabei, it adds to the work lists of three known composers and contributes a substantial piece by one (Simonelli) who otherwise appears to be virtually unknown. Finally, since each work is identified as a 'cantata' or a 'serenata', the manuscript also raises questions about the relationship between these genres in the late seventeenth century.
