In the history of seventeenth-century European music the court of Christian IV (r. 1588-1648) occupies a position of prominence. Christian, eager for fame as a patron of the arts, drew to Denmark many of the musical giants of the age, among them the lutenist John Dowland and the composer Heinrich Schltz. Sadly, except for financial records and occasional letters still in the archives, few traces remain of these brilliant years in Denmark. The music composed and played during this half century has largely disappeared, most of it probably in the tragic fire of 1794 that destroyed the old Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen and with it the court music archives. Except for the recently-discovered Clausholm Fragments, only three specimens of keyboard music from the period remain: Ny kgl. Saml. 1997 fol. (Obmaus Tablature), Gl. kgl. Saonl. 376 fol. (Copenhagen Tablature), and mu 6703.2131/6 (VoigtlaJnder Tablature). It has generally been assumed that the manuscripts were of German origin. The present study, however, demonstrates a probable Danish origin for the third, possible Danish connections for the second, and establishes that the first is of Austrian provenance. The Obmaus Tablature is an amateur's preservation of a German keyboard style already outdated. This slender manuscript, …

The great number of musical sources preserved in manuscript and printed form clearly reflects the prominent position held by the lute as a musical instrument during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Only a relatively small portion of this vast literature is presently available to scholars and interested laymen in the form of modern transcriptions. Referred to as "l'instrument noble par excellence," the lute's popular and fashionable appeal is evidenced by the large number of composers who dedicated themselves to this instrument. Among the number of outstanding lute composers living in Italy during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries was Giulio Cesare Barbetta (c. 1540-after 1603). During his lifetime Barbetta published a total of four books of lute pieces containing arrangements of polyphonic compositions of various Renaissance composers as well as a large number of original compositions including .preludes, airs, fantasias, and dance pieces. Although Barbetta achieved importance as a leading figure in the Italian school of lute composition, there is little readily available material, either biographical or musical; this study provides the scholar, the performer, and the listener with biographical data and a modern edition of the composer's complete works.