The Diapason Press

General Series

John Wilson

THIRTY PRELUDES
in all (24) keys for lute

Facsimile and transcription of the manuscript
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Mus. B. 1

edited by Matthew Spring

DP 49

Instrumentation:
twelve-course lute or theorbo

Providing lute pieces in all 24 major and minor keys for lute was not a new thing in the 17th century: Jacomo Gorzanis’s pazzamezzi and saltarelli (1567) in all keys preceded John Wilson’s preludes by more than half a century. Wilson’s were composed probably in the 1640s and have come down to us in a manuscript, now in Oxford, also containing songs by Wilson and other composers. The present edition, with an extensive introduction by Matthew Spring, includes both a facsimile of the manuscript of the pieces (pp. 11–30) and transcriptions in keyboard notation. The order of the pieces seems a bit at random. If there is an order, it is ‘progressive’, from the diatonic keys (few or no sharps or flats in the key signatures) to the ‘chromatic’ keys (many sharps or flats). Also, a number of keys are represented by more than one piece.

1997
ISBN n/a (paper)
1 score (64 pp.)
21 x 30 cm
€32 or US$32

Contents

  Introduction by Matthew Spring ?
1 A minor 32
2 B♭ major 33
3 A minor 34
4 A major 35
5 A minor 36
6 E♭ major 37
7 E♭ major 38
8 C minor 39
9 C minor 40
10 C major 40
11 D minor 41
12 D major 42
13 G minor 43
14 G major 43
15 E minor 45
16 E major 46
17 F minor 47
18 F major 48
19 B♭ minor 49
20 B♭ major 50
21 A♭ major 50
22 G♯ minor 51
23 B minor 53
24 B major 54
25 D♭ major 56
26 C♯ minor 57
27 D♭ major 59
28 F♯ minor 60
29 F♯ major 62
30 E♭ minor 63
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