The Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris preserves a large manuscript from 1674, which contains music for viola da gamba solo in French tablature. There is evidence that the collection has its originin north-eastern Germany. As a specialty besides dance movements, preludes, arias, fantasias etc. it also contains 35 harmonised chorales. Most of the pieces are anonymous, but we can also identify composers from several European countries, e.g. Hotman and Dubuisson. Many pieces are written for scordatura. For our edition we have selected 43 pieces in the gamba tuning common today and transcribed them to modern notation. Character and difficulty level vary. Besides simple melodies in bass clef, we also find pieces with chords and a large range requiring bass and alto clef.
Editor: Marcellus Jany and Leonore von Zadow.