ABSTRACT
The two largest collections of late-Seicento instrumental music are found in the Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica di Bologna and the Biblioteca Estense Universitaria in Modena. The holdings of the Museo Internazionale comprise almost entirely printed music while those of the Biblioteca Estense are mostly manuscript. Apart from Bismantova and Zannetti, there are manuscript exercises for the violin preserved in the Museo Internazionale in Bologna, consisting of scales and other melodic patterns designed to improve left-hand facility. The Este manuscripts include the music of numerous composers, but the bulk of the collection represents the work of the composer-violinist Giuseppe Colombi, who made his career at the ducal court in Modena. The most likely Italian influence on Colombi would have been that of Marco Uccellini, who was Colombi's predecessor at Modena as head of the court instrumental ensemble and maestro di cappella of the cathedral.
