Page seven of Three solos for the violoncello with accompaniment for a bass by Johan Arnold Dahmen. Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.
Steven K. Gerber, Music/Theater Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Music, was recently published in NOTES, the Journal of the Music Library Association (v70 n2 p259). In it he explains the significance of a recently acquired and digitized music score. Here is the entry!
“George Mason University Libraries has acquired and digitized the only extant holograph score by Dutch-born cellist, gambist, and composer Johan Arnold Dahmen (1766–1812). Thre[e] Solos for the Violoncello with Accompaniment for a Bass comprises three short, three-movement sonatas, composed ca. 1794 in London, where Dahmen had relocated to live and work. Dahmen composed and performed at least one cello concerto, and published dozens of chamber works; he also played in Joseph Haydn’s orchestra for the second series of “Salomon” concerts. Despite the cover title, the duets appear to be written for performance by two cellos. A high-resolution scan of the manuscript is accessible online at the libraries’ Special Collections and Archives repository, http://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/GMUDPS~27~27 (search for “Dahmen”). Scholar–performers at the university’s School of Music are expected to edit, perform, and record these sonatas.”
