La Douceur Française
17th-century French baroque music for solo lute transcribed for ten-course lute in viel ton

La douceur française presents a generous selection of 17th-century French baroque music for solo lute transcribed for ten-course lute in viel ton. The edition includes 97 pieces by Ennemond Gaultier, François Du Fault, and Charles Mouton, carefully transcribed and edited for performance in the old tuning and arranged by key so that suites may be easily selected.

The music of Ennemond Gaultier was previously thought to be predominantly cast in the d-minor tuning in use from the mid-17th century onward. Current scholarship has established that Gaultier left behind a wealth of pieces in the old tuning (viel ton) and, as a contemporary of John Dowland, exemplifies his roots in the older tradition and his creativity in exploring new forms. Since Gaultier published none of his music during his lifetime, there is a strong case to be made that many of his pieces were adapted to the new tuning by his younger cousin, Denis, and published later in the 17th century.

97 lute solos on 98 pages of music, with notes and introductory remarks; spiral bound.

ME017: LA DOUCEUR FRANÇAISE (edition)
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Mater Dolorosa
A companion to the 2020 Mignarda recording in lute tablature and keyboard transcriptions

This unique edition of music for solo voice and lute is a companion to our album Mater Dolorosa: Music for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (mp014), released in November 2020. Following in the footsteps of our CD/companion music edition for our 2016 release Magnum Mysterium (mp011), our new edition features Josquin's Stabat Mater, Que vous madame, and Binchois's Comme femme desconfortée in versions for voice and lute, voice with standard notation, and in newly edited full vocal score in the appendix. Lute solos and instrumental ensemble pieces found on the recording are also presented in lute tablature and in standard notation.

Approximately 85 pages of music and editorial notes; spiral bound.

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ME016: MATER DOLOROSA (edition only)
$40.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Order the 2020 Mignarda recording here
Mater Dolorosa: Music in honor of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
- live performances of the music in this edition

John Dowland
Complete Ayres for Voice & Lute
in two volumes

John Dowland: Complete Ayres for Voice & Lute includes all of Dowland's solo ayres newly transcribed directly from facsimiles of the original prints. A Pilgrimes Solace, transcribed in Volume Two, includes a few pieces with essential choral refrains, as well as three pieces for obbligato treble and bass viol conceived as independent parts: These vocal and instrumental parts are appended to Volume Two in an optimal format that includes the cantus.

John Dowland: Complete Ayres for Voice & Lute is divided into two separate volumes, with the First and Second Bookes in Volume One, and the Third Booke, A Pilgrimes Solace and three selections from A Musicall Banquet all in Volume Two.

Volumes One and Two are both available in three separate versions:

  • Voice and lute tablature as in the original

  • Voice with lute transcribed in standard notation on two staves, suitable for keyboard

  • Voice with lute tablature and parallel transcription in keyboard notation

Great care was taken to format all versions for legibility, but the tablature version and the keyboard version have larger fonts and a more generous layout for greater ease in performance.


VOLUME 1 - John Dowland Complete Ayres for Voice & Lute, First & Second Bookes:

43 ayres for voice & lute with 2 additional parts for treble viol. First Booke was transcribed from Dowland's 1597 edition.

Approximately 170 pages of music, texts, editorial, descriptive, & performance notes; spiral bound. Insert appendices to the Second Booke include treble viol parts for, 21. Cleare or cloudie, and 22. Humor say what makst thou here, as well as an additional score for 22.

Order volume 1: please choose version from the menu below:

ME015A: John Dowland, Volume 1: First & Second Bookes
$60.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.


VOLUME 2 - John Dowland Complete Ayres for Voice & Lute, Third Booke, A Pilgrimes Solace and three selections from A Musicall Banquet

45 ayres for voice & lute with 7 additional parts for instruments and choral refrain.

Approximately 180 pages of music, texts, editorial, descriptive, & performance notes with select bibliography; spiral bound. Insert appendices to A Pilgrimes Solace include parts for 8. Tell me true Love, 9. Goe nightly cares, 10. From silent night, 11. Lasso vita mia, 19. Up merry mates, 20. Welcome blacke night, 21. Cease these false sports.

Order volume 2: please choose version from the menu below:

ME015B: John Dowland, Volume 2: Third Booke, A Pilgrimes Solace & three selections from A Musicall Banquet
$70.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

The Mignarda Songbook
Volume One: English Ayres

This edition is the first in a series of selections from the Mignarda Songbook, in response to requests from musicians who seek to emulate Mignarda’s practice of performing lute songs in a manner that communicates the texts to best advantage. While many pieces in this edition are rare and not available elsewhere, there are some familiar pieces that are included as gems among our favorites. We are pleased to share our unique repertory with professional and amateur musicians in the hope that our approach to lute songs will thrive through informed and engaging performance.

43 English ayres and lute solos: songs selected for suitability for mezzo soprano or tenor range. Many selections are unavailable elsewhere and several include alternative settings of the same text by different historical composers. Lute solos include newly composed ornamented repeats for those lacking in the original. This edition also includes extensive notes and contextual remarks for all pieces.

Approximately 100 pages of music and editorial notes; spiral bound.

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ME014: The Mignarda Songbook, Volume 1: English Ayres
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Magnum Mysterium

Magnum Mysterium: Historical music for Advent & Christmas
intabulated for voice & lute with transcriptions for harp or keyboard
by Ron Andrico

Intended as a companion to our new CD, Magnum Mysterium, this edition includes all of the music on the recording in order with ease of performance a primary consideration, and organized in two separate sections for voice and lute and for voice and keyboard. Each piece is newly transcribed from the original vocal part-music in sensitive arrangements that are kind to the fingers and rewarding to the ear. The vocal lines are also playable as a solo line for a melody instrument or for a second lute.

16 pieces in two sections (32 scores): Voice and Lute, and Voice and Keyboard. All music arranged for voice and lute or keyboard from the original part music, with the same selection of rare instrumentals as found on our recording.

The edition features music from Mignarda's recording Magnum Mysterium, and includes introduction and background information, English translations of Latin and German texts, a description of the context and liturgical use of each piece where appropriate, performance notes & bibliography; spiral bound.

**order the CD and the edition together here**
ME013: Magnum Mysterium
$40.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Harmonia Caelestis: An anthology of 16th-century sacred music for voice & lute
Volume Two: Italian composers

Volume II features motets and antiphons by Italian composers including Anerio, Banchieri and Croce, and several settings by Palestrina and Marenzio. Each piece is newly intabulated from the original vocal part-music in sensitive arrangements that are kind to the fingers and rewarding to the ear. If compatible singers are not to be found, the vocal lines are, of course, playable as a solo line for a melody instrument or a second lute. And with a generous selection of 16th-century motet intabulations, mass movements and themed fantasias for solo lute, this collection truly has something for all lutenists.

33 motets, several of which have a secunda pars, all arranged for voice and lute from the original part music, with an additional selection of 15 instrumental arrangements of motets, Mass movements, and themed fantasias from 16th century sources of lute music.

96 pages of music plus introduction and background information including English translations of Latin texts, a description of the context and liturgical use of each piece where appropriate, performance notes & bibliography; spiral bound.

ME012: Harmonia Caelestis, Volume 2
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Harmonia Caelestis: An anthology of 16th-century sacred music for voice & lute
Volume One: Iberian composers

While most informed lutenists of our age understand the significance of sacred repertory from the 16th century, many players stop short of exploring the music in favor of the dance tunes and fantasias. But a surprising amount of the best-known secular music makes passing reference to, or frequently quotes from sacred music that would have been recognized by contemporary musicians, and a working familiarity with 16th-century vocal polyphony greatly enhances our ability to play other genres of music from the period with a better understanding.

A sampling of some of the best music from 16th-century Iberian composers including Brito, Guerrero, Morago, Morales, and Victora. Each piece is newly intabulated from the original vocal part-music in sensitive arrangements that are kind to the fingers and rewarding to the ear. If compatible singers are not to be found, the vocal lines are, of course, playable as a solo line for a melody instrument or a second lute. And with a generous selection of 16th-century motet intabulations, mass movements and themed fantasias for solo lute, this collection truly has something for all lutenists.

25 motets, several of which have a secunda pars, all arranged for voice and lute from the original part music, with an additional selection of instrumental arrangements of motets, Mass movements, and themed fantasias from 16th century sources.

91 pages of music, plus introduction, background information including biographical notes on the composers, English translations of Latin texts, a description of the context and liturgical use of each piece where appropriate, performance notes & bibliography; spiral bound.

ME011: Harmonia Caelestis, Volume 1
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Vingt et vn Pseaumes de David (1615) Nicolas Vallet

Nicolas Vallet's settings of twenty-one psalms for voice and lute, originally published as Vingt et vn Pseavmes de David, accommodès pour chanter & jouer de Luth Ensemble (1615), complete, newly transcribed and edited for performance in what we believe to be the first modern edition. Also included is a selection of instrumental psalm settings by Vallet drawn from Secretum Musarum, 1615 and 1616, as well as music from his collection of all 150 psalms, Regia pietas, hoc est Psalmi Davidici (1620). The versified French psalm texts by Clément Marot and Théodore de Bèze are given a new literal English translation and presented along with the same texts from the 1611 King James Bible for comparison. The music is for voice and 10-course lute in renaissance tuning, but all pieces can be played on an 8-course lute with minor adaptation of bass notes.

66 pages of music, plus introduction, performance notes, translations & bibliography; spiral bound.

ME010: 21 Psalms
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Angélique:
Selected lute music of Robert Ballard & Nicolas Vallet

This entirely new collection consists of sixty-five pieces - some of the best music by both composers from diverse sources arranged by tonality for ease of performance. The music is for 10-course lute in renaissance tuning but all pieces can be played on an 8-course lute with minor adaptation of bass notes. Set in modern lute tablature with a period appearance, the book includes several pieces that have not yet appeared in modern edition from Vallet's Regia pietas (1620).

70 pages of music, plus introduction, performance notes, background information & bibliography; spiral bound.

ME009: Angélique
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Shakespeare's Lute Book: an Anthology of Songs & Lute Solos

A collection of songs, dances, and ballad tunes referenced in many of Shakespeare's plays. Arranged by the play, all pieces are formatted for ease of performance for voice (or melody instrument) and lute, lute solo, and lute duet. This edition has nearly 70 pieces of music, including unfigured bass realizations for lute and some alternative versions of songs pitched for higher or lower voices.

79 pages of music, plus performance notes & bibliography; spiral bound

ME008: Shakespeare's Lute Book
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

French Chansons of the 16th Century:

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Download sample page: (PDF) Dont vient cela by Claudin de Sermisy

French Chansons of the 16th Century: an Anthology

At long last and after several interruptions, our performing edition of 16th century French chansons is now available. This wonderful music is featured prominently on our new CD, Au pres de vous, and contains many rare chansons newly arranged from original part-songs. Chansons are formatted for ease of performance with several intabulations for solo lute next to their vocal models. Since the popularity of 16th century French chansons was a pan-European phenomenon, settings are from a variety of sources, French, Italian, Flemish, German and English. We're pleased to offer this edition of 42 rare chansons and lute solos at a cost of less than one dollar per piece.

42 chansons for voice and lute, and lute solos, plus performance notes, texts & translations; spiral bound

ME007: French Anthology
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Indigo Road: Original Lute Music by Ronn McFarlane

We're very pleased to announce that Ronn McFarlane's Indigo Road tablature edition is now back in print and available from our friends at the Lute Society (UK).

Mignarda Editions is delighted to announce the release of Indigo Road, offering lutenists a chance to both hear and play Ronn McFarlane's haunting and imaginative original music.

Released simultaneously with the Dorian/Sono Luminus CD of the same name, our edition contains exactly the same pieces that are recorded on the CD. Through a special arrangement with Dorian/Sono Luminus, Mignarda Editions is able to offer the book containing tablature scores separately or together as a package with the CD.

The compositions are conceived for a 10-course lute in Renaissance tuning, but may also be played on an 8-course lute. This edition contains only the lute solos (without added instrumental parts) as they were originally conceived.

ME006: Indigo Road
Order this title from the Lute Society (UK)

The Bottegari Lute Book: Volume 1

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Mandatum novum by Cosimo Bottegari

The Bottegari Lute Book: Volume 1

Volume One of Mignarda Editions' long-awaited performing edition of the Bottegari manuscript is now available for shipping. The Bottegari Lute Book: Volume One contains music for voice with lute from the manuscript, including all the sacred music with Latin and Italian texts, the complete lute solos, and some of the more important settings of madrigals arranged by Bottegari for solo voice with lute. The edition is formatted for performance and only one exceptionally long piece has page turns.

21 sacred & devotional pieces for voice & lute; 3 madrigals for voice & lute; 8 lute solos; appendix with 2 alternative settings, plus performance notes, texts & translations; spiral bound<

ME005: Bottegari, Volume 1
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Lute songs of the 15th Century

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Fortuna Desperata by Antoine Busnoys

Lute songs of the 15th Century: an Anthology

Mignarda Editions is very pleased to present an anthology of music from late fifteenth-century France and Italy. The edition consists of chansons by composers Bedyngham, Du Fay, Ockeghem, Busnoys, Walter Frye, Ghizeghem and Robert Morton. Also featured are settings of chansons for lute solo from the Capirola manuscript as well as new arrangements. Included are texts, translations, and editorial notes. As always, Mignarda Editions are carefully formatted for performance with text underlaid and no page turns.

16 chansons & 9 lute solos, plus performance notes, texts & translations; spiral bound

ME004: 15th Century Anthology
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Jean-Baptiste Besard: Airs de Court

Mignarda Editions presents a rare selection of airs de court from Jean Baptiste Besard's 1603 printed work, Thesaurus Harmonicus, a publication famous for its errors. Included are newly corrected versions of the six familiar airs from Respighi's Ancient Airs & Dances. The cantus of each air is transposed to conform with a lute tuned in G. The edition includes variants, translations, lute solos, and performance notes.

33 airs and lute solos, plus performance notes, translations, & variants, spiral bound

ME003: Jean-Baptiste Besard
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

Italian Lute Songs of the Sixteenth Century: An Anthology

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Poi che volse la mia stella by Bartolomeo Tromboncino/ Joan Ambrosio Dalza

Italian Lute Songs of the Sixteenth Century: An Anthology

This second volume in Mignarda Editions' series of lute songs presents both rare and familiar Italian frottole, madrigali and lute solos by Marco Cara, Sebastiano and Constanza Festa, Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Josquin, Phillipe Verdelot, Giovanni Matteo Asola, Luca Marenzio, Francesco da Milano and others. Several vocal settings are paired with intabulations for lute solo of the same piece, either from original sixteenth century sources or arranged by the editor for performance purposes. Also included are fantasias and recercars that are linked thematically to the vocal pieces. All songs are set for a lute tuned in G and most cantus parts are in the treble clef.

42 pages of music plus notes and translations, spiral bound

ME002: Italian Anthology
$50.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

The Collected Lute Works of Hippolito Tromboncino

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Io moro by Hippolito Tromboncino

The Collected Lute Works of Hippolito Tromboncino

Hippolito Tromboncino, a mid-sixteenth century Venetian singer/lutenist, is overshadowed by and often mistaken for his more colorful predecessor, Bartolomeo. His imaginative and highly decorated lute songs, found in the Bottegari manuscript, appear to represent the oft-depicted sixteenth century practice of playing the lower voices of a madrigal on the lute while singing an ornamented version of the superius. This edition contains the six known lute songs of Hippolito Tromboncino along with three fantasia/ricercars, two of which are of questionable attribution.

French tablature for renaissance lute in G and treble clef. 20 pages, spiral bound.

ME001: Hippolito Tromboncino
$35.00 + 1st class USPS international shipping/handling.

About Ron Andrico

Ron Andrico is a specialist in historical music for plucked strings and has had an active career in solo and ensemble performance, vocal accompaniment, recording, as an arranger, and in music for theater. Since 1995, he has been concentrating on the lute and is known for his work in editing historical sources of lute music, producing results both scholarly and practical. He is the author of the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts.