Gounod, Charles

the full score for solo voice (identified as "soprano récitant" and "L'Ange"), chorus, organ and orchestra, elegantly notated in brown ink on up to twenty-six staves per page, with autograph markings, dynamics and rehearsal numbers in blue crayon, some deletions and alterations, with the title page "La Salutation Angélique, fragment de L'Annonciation : Mystère (inédit)...texte de l'Evangile selon Saint Luc (Chap. I. Vers. 26-35), suivi de l'Invocation "Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu"...(Commencé le 24 7^bre, fête de N.D. de la Merci (Rédemption des Captifs.) Terminé le 6 8^bre fête de S^t Bruno) Anno Domini 1874...", and with a long explanatory note by the composer

51 pages, including title, folio (c.34 x 27cm), 26-stave paper, contemporary cloth-backed brown boards, autograph title-label laid onto covers, September to October 1874, a few tears to margins,

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

UNPUBLISHED: this is an unrecorded and unpublished work by Gounod, It is a completely different work from the Salutation angélique. Ave maria, (a short piece in B major, published by Choudens in 1877). 

This manuscript contains a concise version of a larger (also unrecorded) work that the composer had been forced to leave in London; it comprises the following sections, linked by recitative: Moderato, in C major, 4/4 ("Et l'ange Gabriel fut envoyé de Dieu dans un village de Galilée"); Andantino 3/4, 9/8 & 12/8; Chorus in 9/8 ("Il sera grand!"); Allegretto in F, 3/4 for "Soli ou petit choeur" ("Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu"), thus ending in F major.  

In the note on the title page, Gounod explains that the present work is "extracted" from a larger composition, dedicated to Queen Victoria and left by him in London, along with a large quantity of his music (which had been seized by his erstwhile mistress Georgina Weldon).  "Le manuscript de 'l'Annonciation' mystère, (duquel ce fragment est extrait et constitue une oeuvre plus restreinte), se compose, dans sa form primitive, de huit morceau (soli et coeurs) précédés d'une March Profétique de l'Adoration des Rois Mages.  Il est dédié à Sa Majesté la Reine d'Angleterre, Victoria.  Cet ouvrage est resté à Londres ainsi qu'une quantité considerable d'autres manuscrits qui sont ma propriété. Ch Gounod".  That larger work is contained in a 126-page manuscript, dated 2 January 1874, titled 'The Annunciation (the first joyous Mystery)' and dedicated "by special Permission to Her Most Gracious Majesty The Queen Victoria". Georgina Weldon had refused to send many such manuscripts to Gounod when he returned to Paris, and, instead, scrawled her name all over the pages in orange crayon.