While researching the music composed by Matthew Dubourg (1703-1767), Master of the State Msuic in Ireland from 1728 to 1767, Dr Estelle Murphy has discovered that a violin concerto, long thought to be his, was in fact composed by Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762). She has written two shcolarly articles to alert the academic community to this discovery. The first to appear was 'Matthew Dubourg’s Violin Concerto and a case of Mistaken Identity’, The Handel Institute Newsletter, 34/1 (Spring, 2023). The second article was published just this week: 'Dubourg, Geminiani and the Violin Concerto in D Major: A Misattribution', Eighteenth-Century Music 20/2, 223–225 (doi:10.1017/S1478570623000131). This latter is open-access and available to read at this LINK.
Both articles use primary sources to determine that the solo violin concerto in D major appeared first as a concerto grosso in a collection published by John Walsh. The differences between the two versions attest to the intended functions and uses of the works at different times. The discovery means that while Geminiani can now be credited with one further work, none of Matthew Dubourg's violin concertos in fact survive.