»Elisabeth von Hessen's Lute Book« Facsimile of the manuscript in Kassel University Library Edited by Axel Halle with an introduction by Angelika Horstmann (German and English) approx. 224 pages; cloth ISBN 3-7618-1778-9 EUR 69.00
	»Elisabeth von Hessen’s Lute Book« mirrors the musical life and cultural ties at the court of Kassel under the rule of Landgrave Moritz. Compiled between 1605 and 1611 for the landgrave’s musically gifted daughter, it consists mainly of dance pieces in French lute tablature plus finger exercises, études, and »finali«, which served as basic material for improvisations. Among other things, it contains arrangements of works by John Dowland, who twice visited the landgrave’s palace in Kassel. Victor de Montbuysson, the court lutenist and one of the scribes of the collection, brought the latest French style from his travels. A very early instance of figured bass realization on the lute can be found in fifteen Italian monodies by Georg Schimmelpfennig. The use of scordatura, later a common feature of 17th-century French music, reveals that the lute book was at the zenith of its age. Our facsimile edition presents not only the 200 written pages but also conveys an impression of the rosettes and floral patterns on the original cover.