The project offers the first edition of the only known 16th-century tablature for Renaissance harp found to date in the Central German region. It is a manuscript consisting of 42 written pages, created around 1540 and currently held in the Music Library of the Leipzig City Libraries (D-LEm) under the call number I.8°191.
The reader is provided with deep insights into this unique source: ranging from facsimiles and diplomatic transcriptions into common western music notation (including vocal models) to a performance-oriented edition for Renaissance harp, research, and accompanying audio interpretations. The uniqueness of this collection allows, for the first time, an analysis of music specifically notated for the harp in ‘older German organ tablature’. The focus lies not only on aspects such as intabulation, musica ficta, and diminution, but also on questions of repertoire transmission, didactic structure, and contextualisation within contemporary tablatures. Furthermore, the introductory fundamentum places the source within the still under-researched group of manuscript instrumental tutors adapted for personal use.
The project is a cooperation between the Department of Musicology at the University of Vienna (PD Dr Kateryna Schöning) and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Research Department: Prof. Dr Martin Kirnbauer; Harp Department: Heidrun Rosenzweig, Lecturer for Historical Harp; Claire Piganiol, Lecturer for Medieval and Renaissance Harp; and Prof. Flora Papadopoulos, Lecturer for Historical Harp, with students from the harp classes).