Library

Name of the library in which the source is found.

Ms. No.

Library siglum for the source.

Ms. Code

Abbreviation used for the source. (User tip: To page through the complete contents of any source, search this field using the source’s ms. code alone.)

No.

Every source is numbered from beginning to end. Each individual work, including untitled compositions and original keyboard pieces, receives a number.  This number, when preceeded by the two‑letter abbreviation of the source, acts as the catalogue number for a composition and may used for references elsewhere in the database.  Works with several parts receive only one number, and fragmented works without titles are generally not numbered at all.  In some cases, an original numbering (different from the foliation) is found in the source.  Usually these numbers apply only to a group of compositions, and these numbers are recorded in the "Scribal Remarks” field.  If the numeration is found consistently throughout a  larger segment of the source, the numbers are placed in square  brackets beside the modern numbers.

Folio

A revised, modern foliation is generally used.  In many cases a source has been foliated or paginated by a recent librarian or scholar, and these numbers are used if possible.  Suggested corrections or additions by this editor are placed in round brackets.  Original folio numbers, if found, are placed in square brackets beside the modern numbers. 

Title

The title for each work is rendered exactly as found.  Titles have not been revised to follow modern linguistic or grammatical rules.  An attempt has been made, for example, to distinguish between "u" and "v" or between "i" and "j" in the original hand.  The Latin combination, "ii" or "ij," as produced by German hands, usually resembles the sign "ÿ" which is reproduced when applicable.  When a word (or part thereof) is illegible, individual dashes (‑‑‑) indicate the approximate number of obscured letters.  In extended titles (usually cases where  the entire text is given at the beginning of a work), up to three lines are allowed.  Any words in round brackets are editorial additions.  Words in square brackets have been completed from an original text supplied with the intabulation.  Although original indications such as secunda or tertia pars are reproduced, remarks such as prima pars or versus primus generally are not.

Title (uniform)

Because orthography is so inconsistent in the sources, this field attempts to

provide a uniform spelling of the title to facilitate most searches.
 

Voc.

This number indicates the number of voices in the vocal model.   If the intabulation reduces this number of parts to a smaller, more manageable texture, the comment "reduced texture" is provided in the “Scribal Remarks” field. 

Author

The author's name (referring usually to the author of the vocal model) is spelled exactly as found. (See "Title" comments above.)  Editorial completions are in round brackets.  Occasionally, a composition is attributed in another tablature to a different author.  If so, the catalogue numbers for these concordances are provided as well as the variant attribution.  Because there is no orthographical consistency, any author search should also utilize the“Author index” field.

Author (uniform)

In the various sources, the composer's name is often ambiguous, abbreviated, orthographically problematic, or even missing.  To facilitate searching, a uniform name is provided in this field.

Scribal remarks

Original information supplied by the scribe, other than the title or author, is placed in this field.  These remarks often concern the liturgical use of the piece, the date of intabulation, the interval of transposition, or a reference to a vocal edition.  Editorial semicolons separate individual portions of this information.  Miscellaneous editorial comments are frequently added (in round brackets) in this field.  As in the “Title” field, individual dashes (‑‑‑) are substituted for illegible letters.

Text

The presence of text in an intabulation is indicated by abbreviations in this field.  "U" means that the text is "underlaid” -- that it is written beneath one of the lines of tablature (usually the lowest voice) and aligned approximately with the music.  "E" means that the text is copied in full at the "end" of the work.  "ST" stands for "subtitled" and indicates that the composition is subdivided into several sections with the text for each part used as a subtitle.  "X" is used in multi‑part compositions to cancel an abbreviation used for an earlier part.  If, for example, the prima pars of a piece has its text at the end but no text is given for the secunda pars, then "E" would appear in the text field for the first part and "X" in the field for the second part.  It should also be noted that some intabulations use the complete text as the title.  [See “Title (uniform)” above.]

Trsp.

Any number in this field stands for the interval which an intabulation has been transposed  downward from the vocal model.  A downward transposition of a perfect fourth, for example, is indicated with the number 4.  In rare instances where an upward transposition has occurred the word "up" is written before the number.  Some intabulations have been traced indirectly to their vocal source through secondary information.  In these cases, a dash (‑) is placed in this field to indicate that the intabulation could not be compared with the model and that the interval of transposition is uncertain.

Cncd.

Many vocal works are found intabulated in several different sources.  Numbers in this field indicate the number of concordances for a single work.  The number "4," for example, means that four other intabulations exist (a total of five intabulations) on this same model. The “Cncd. Code” field provides the reference numbers to these concordances.

Cncd. Codes

This field provides the reference numbers (Source code + number) for concordances of this composition found in the database.

Vocal Source

This information refers to the printed vocal edition from which an intabulation might have been transcribed.  Manuscript sources have rarely been consulted and are only listed on a few occasions.  The abbreviations refer generally to the RISM volumes of Einzeldrucke vor 1800.  Numbers with superscripts refer to the RISM volume of printed collections, Recueils imprimes XVIe‑XVIIe siècles.  Other works cited can be found in the table below.  It has often been difficult to determine from exactly which source an intabulation has been taken, since vocal works frequently appear in numerous editions.  Some attempt has been made to list the earliest possible edition, unless information provided by the scribe points to a later print or unless an earlier edition could not be consulted.  If an edition is suspected to be the vocal source but could not be inspected, its RISM number is given in round brackets.  Some intabulations, however, have been traced to earlier editions by using reliable secondary sources or modern editions.  In many of these cases, the attribution to a specific vocal edition is certain, but the exact number of the work in that edition was not provided in the secondary reference and has not yet been determined.  A blank space following the "No." indicates this situation; the blank is intentional.  If all printed sources listed for a composer in RISM have been searched and a work attributed to that composer has still not be located, then "no source" is written in this field.  On the other hand, if the "Vocal Source" field remains blank, the  possibility has not been conclusively eliminated that there may still be an extant source for the model.  

Comments

Editorial comments

Source Heading

Often, large blocks of intabulations are copied from single printed sources.  The manuscripts frequently provide a heading to this block of works, taken sometimes from the title page of the edition used.  Such information is provided in this field.