User:David Fraser

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"Daddy with a tangle in his hair" by William Fraser, aged 2¾

General Information

Country of origin: UK

Contributor since: 2002-07-10

Number of scores on CPDL: 260

List scores by this editor

Contact Information

To contact me, please leave a message on the discussion tab of this page or send a personal message via the CPDL forums.

William Byrd

For some years now I have been, with numerous interruptions, preparing a complete edition of the vocal works published in Byrd's own editions. The rationale for this, besides the simple love of Byrd's music, is a dissatisfaction with a situation where the complete works of Britain's greatest writer appear online in dozens of free editions, while those of (one of the strongest candidates for the title of) our greatest composer are available either in old and often inaccurate editions or in expensive scholarly publications.

General editorial notes to the Byrd edition

All pieces are newly edited from the original sources. Where possible, alternative printed sources have been collated. The usual conventions of early music editing apply throughout the editions: editorial additions such as suggested modern voicing, missing lyrics supplied editorially, indications of proportional tempi between sections in different time-signatures, are enclosed in square brackets.

Notes

All editions are at the original pitch and, where possible, in the original note-values. (The only reason for not employing the printed note-values arises where different parts employ conflicting notations and time-signatures, such that black and white notation coincide in different parts - the refrain of no.26 from the 1588 set is such a place.)

Voices are referred to by Roman numerals from highest to lowest, bars and notes within bars by Arabic numerals: hence the dotted minim a in the Contratenor bar 8 of Adoramus te, Christe is referred to as III.8.2. Notes tied over from previous bars are not numbered separately, so the quaver d' in the following bar in the Superius part is I.9.6.

Ligatures and coloration are indicated by solid and broken square brackets respectively above the affected notes.

Texts

Translations of Latin texts have various sources: biblical passages are taken from the Douai-Rheims Bible (1582 & 1609-10, with spelling modernised by the editor), other liturgical but non-biblical material from various apparently freely-available breviaries and missals. Where the source of a text is not noted, it is either anonymous free text (in non-liturgical items) or a non-bibilical liturgical text. Translations of more obscure originals (e.g. the one Italian piece in Byrd's œuvre) are noted in the individual editions. Translations of non-liturgical items not otherwise noted are editorial.

Psalms in Latin settings are numbered according to the Roman psalter, in English (in accordance with Byrd’s own numbering) according to the English psalter.

Lyrics added editorially where one of the standard repeat-signs (ij, &c. .//.) are in use are shown in italics.

English texts are rendered in modern spelling, although obsolete words such as chill and lien are retained and capitalisation of common nouns follows the sources. Latin spelling is also standardised; capitalisation in Latin texts generally follows the sources, although such words as Deus and Dominus are always capitalised. Punctuation generally follows the sources, even where apparently ungrammatical; modern editorial opinion suggests that commas may be intended to indicate phrasing as much as syntax.

Where the complete texts of English settings are printed after the music, the original spelling is retained, taken from the highest voice's partbook and, where applicable, the first appearance of the words.

Accidentals

The interpretation of accidentals poses few problems in Byrd's printed sources. The following editorial practice has been adopted:

Accidentals in the source are indicated by normal-sized symbols. These are not repeated within the bar in which they occur. Unless clearly erroneous (and so noted in the editorial commentary), all the printer's accidentals are included, either in the music or in editorial notes.

Editorial accidentals are indicated by small symbols before the note, repeated as necessary within a single bar. These are provided to correct (what seem to the editor) obvious omissions, to avoid severe and uncharacteristic harmonic clashes and to indicate preferred readings from manuscript sources. They are also used in editions from Byrd's earlier publications (1575-91) for notes in octaves other than those affected by the key-signature, where no accidentals occur in the source, since it appears that, in the 16th century, key-signatures applied only to the pitches at which they were placed. Later publications (1605-11) appear generally to adopt the modern practice, so these editorial accidentals are not employed here.

Cautionary accidentals are indicated by full-sized bracketed symbols. These are used:

For what is hoped will be the convenience of performers, where a different accidental has been recently employed;

Where, in accordance with 16th-17th century practice, a previous accidental would not apply, such as where repeated notes are separated by a rest or line-break.

Editorial or cautionary accidentals are not employed where the practice of the time seems to assume the persistence of a previous accidental: for repeated notes where there is no harmonic change and in cadential figures.

Liturgy

All of Byrd's explicitly liturgical music (the contents of the two books of Gradualia and the three settings of the Ordinary of the Mass) is written for the Roman rite. Earlier pieces set texts belonging both to the Roman and Sarum rites. Where a rite is not otherwise noted in the edition, the Roman is assumed.

Liturgical functions noted in editions of the Gradualia items are as directed (often rather laconically) by Byrd and his printer. The texts set may also be proper to other feasts either ignored by Byrd or instituted in later years. Users interested in liturgical performance are recommended to consult http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/.

Current situation and progress

Pieces have been appearing over the past six years at various standards of editorial quality. Anything whose source file is still in version 2 of Sibelius is likely to be quite old and not up to a standard to which I would now wish to work. Rather than withdrawing all old pieces, I would prefer to ask anyone interested in using them (or indeed, while work is still in progress, any of the other pieces) to contact me to ensure that they get the newest and best possible version.

As part of a final(!) revision, I will be withdrawing Sibelius source files and making items available as .pdf and MIDI files only. This change has unfortunately been forced by the discovery of editions in circulation that have been edited from my originals, sometimes quite poorly, and that still bear my name. If you need a transposed version of any of my editions, please let me know, and I'll do my best to make this available.

Feedback

It is always good to hear of performances or recordings of these editions (the latest Stile Antico disc, Heavenly Harmonies, uses a lot of them). If there is anything in any of the editions that doesn't seem quite right, I can do no better than quote Byrd himself:

"If... there bee any fault by mee committed, I desire the skilfull, eyther with courtesie to let the same bee concealed, or in friendly sort to bee thereof admonished: and at the next Impression he shall finde the error reformed."

John Dowland

I appear also to have begun a complete edition of Dowland's four songbooks, plus some of his contributions to other publications. Editions are as presented in Dowland's own publications, with lute tablature throughout, 1-4 voices and sometimes viols, although the songs may be performed by a variety of forces as noted on the individual pages. (N.B. the lute is always required.) Editorial practice is as for the Byrd edition. As a non-lutenist, I would especially welcome any comments from lutenists regarding the quality and usability of the tablature in my editions.

The Dowland edition is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend, the composer, writer and artist Mark Edgley Smith (20.3.1955 - 26.7.2008).