Two legal documents recently discovered among The National Archives at Kew in London provide new information about Henry Purcell's final years. The only known instances of the composer's involvement with the law, these rare archival finds shed light on his familial relations and financial circumstances at that point in his career when he was turning his attention to the London stage. The first case involves Purcell's sister-in-law Amy Howlett, who owed him £40; and the second concerns his unpaid bill at an exclusive West End retailer's. The new material confirms beyond doubt the identity of Purcell's in-laws, and shows that he was not just short of money in the 1690s, but that he was actually in debt at the time of his death. Other areas of enquiry include the élite social milieu in which the Purcells increasingly moved, and their possible place of residence in 1691–3. These aspects are discussed in relation to Purcell's enhanced public profile at that time, and within the wider context of the culture of consumption and credit in late seventeenth-century England. The two lawsuits are transcribed and translated in full, and their legal implications explicated.

This article considers the reception of Ralph Vaughan Williams's nine symphonies (and a few non-symphonic works) in New York City (and, occasionally, its suburban environs), from the American premiere of A London Symphony on 30 December 1920 to a performance of Symphony No. 6 on 10 December 2014. The author argues that the reception rolls out across five distinct periods: (1) 1920/1–1922/3: the New York premieres of A London Symphony, A Sea Symphony and A Pastoral Symphony (in that order), all to greetings that were lukewarm at best; (2) 1923/4–1934/5: Vaughan Williams's reputation grew meteorically, and A London Symphony became something of a staple; during this period Olin Downes of the New York Times became Vaughan Williams's most ardent champion among New York's music critics; (3) 1935/6–1944/5: Symphonies 4 and 5 made their New York debuts, and a rift opened between the pro-Vaughan Williams New York Times and the negative criticism of the New York Herald Tribune, one that would follow Vaughan Williams to the grave and beyond; (4) 1945/6–1958/9: premieres of Symphonies 6, 8 and 9, as Vaughan Williams's reputation in New York reached its honours- and awards-filled zenith; and (5) the long period from 1959/60 to the present day, which can be described as 20 years of decline (1960s–1970s), another 20 in which his reputation reached rock bottom (1980s–1990s) and, since the beginning of the new millennium, something of a reassessment, one that is seemingly unencumbered by the ideologically driven criticism of the past. Finally, Appendix I provides a chronological inventory of all New York Philharmonic programmes (along with those of the New York Symphony prior to the two orchestras' merger in 1928) that include any music (not just the symphonies) by Vaughan Williams. Appendix II then reorganizes the information of the chronological list according to work, conductor, venue and premieres.

Between 1690 and 1693 Cardinal Benedetto Pamphilj (1653–1730) held the office of Cardinal-Legate of Bologna. Although he is well known as a patron of music in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Rome, his time in Bologna has received virtually no attention. This article provides an extensive overview of these years on the basis of a large body of previously unpublished documents. Three appendices provide transcriptions of 74 documents from the cardinal's financial administration, 44 excerpts from a Bolognese institutional diary and a chronology of events involving the cardinal.

Making particular use of material drawn from the Census of England and Wales, this article confirms that music teaching was above all an urban activity, increasingly dominated by women, albeit with some local variation, and that the highest provision of teaching was invariably in middle-class areas. Seaside resorts and suburbia were especially prominent market locations by the early twentieth century, with the south-east particularly favoured. The often-derided part-time teacher is shown to have been a key figure in working-class communities. While teachers showed little interest in formal professionalization, it is argued that they were probably better paid than has been assumed and were able at least to maintain a social position within the lower-middle and skilled working classes that most were born into. Although women's careers were frequently short, for a growing minority, music teaching was a serious career option. It is suggested that teachers met contemporary needs rather more effectively than some have claimed.