Viola da Gamba Society of America

The barless edition of William Lawes herewith presented is based on the Oxford Bodleian Manuscripts and preserves Lawes' beaming of 8th notes as a possible indication of the way he would like the music to be phrased. Although the natural sign was in use by Lawes' time he did not use it, preferring instead to use a sharp sign to raise a note by a half step and a flat sign to lower it. Once one gets used to these notational practices, reading from this edition should prove most rewarding to viol players hoping to get closer to the way Lawes' mind worked.

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The editor wishes to apologize for any mistakes and inconsistencies, particularly in formatting. The music software used was the new program Dorico, good for barless music, but with no written documentation and many bugs in the available earlier versions. Gremlins often seemed to get into the computer overnight and change things. The edition has taken countless hours, partly in the editor's learning Dorico, but also of students and colleagues who have read and re-read the copies willingly and with skill and patience in hopes of finding all the musical errors.