Charles Dibdin

The Freemantle Collection

Guide to the Freemantle Collection in the Leeds University Special Collections and the significant materials that can be found within.

Charles Dibdin

Charles Dibdin's comic operas. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Charles Dibdin's 'Table Entertainments'

Charles Dibdin's one-man shows. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Dr. Benjamin Cooke's Protest

Dr. Benjamin Cooke protests at losing his post. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

E. J. Loder's 'Manfred'

E. J. Loder's musical setting of Manfred. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

W. T. Freemantle the composer

W. T. Freemantle as a composer. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Mendelssohn's 'Christe du Lamm Gottes'

Autograph score of Mendelssohn's 'Christe du Lamm Gottes'. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Mendelssohn's 'Allegro Brillante'

Mendelssohn's early compositional sketch 'Allegro Brillante'. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Mendelssohn's 'Auf Einer Gondel' and 'Elijah'

Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' and 'Auf Einer Gondel'. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

Symington the 'thief'!

John Alexander Symington and the Library of Congress. Part of an exhibition at Leeds Special Collections about the collecting activities of W. T. Freemantle.

The Freemantle Collection contains a large amount of manuscripts and autograph scores by Charles Dibdin (1745-1814) an English composer and dramatist. Freemantle had a particular interest in Charles Dibdin and English Choral music in general. There are 40 bound volumes of Dibdin material in the Freemantle Collection.

The image shows Dibdin’s autographed score for ‘The Islanders’. This also includes a score for its abridged version ‘The Marriage Act’. 'The Islanders' was a three-part Comic Opera which Dibdin wrote in 1780 when he had just returned to work at Covent Garden. He was assigned to write a pantomime for the Christmas season but persuaded management to perform ‘The Islanders’ as well. They did on 15 November 1780, but on the condition that Dibdin’s name wasn't attached. The material was taken from two operas; ‘L’Isle Sauvage’ (Theatre-Francais, 8 July 1743) and ‘La Colonie’ (Theatre-Francais, 25 October 1749), both by the French playwright Germain-Francois Poullain De Saint Foix.

The Islanders was a largely successful production and a year later in 1781, 'The Marriage Act' was performed. It was an altered version of 'The Islanders', changed into a two-act farce, which focused on a sub-plot of the original production.