Tablature: Europe, 1300-1750

Please join us to launch the new book, Tablature: Europe, 1300–1750, co-edited by University of Melbourne Professorial Fellow John Griffiths, as well as David Dolata and Philippe Vendrix. The book will be launched by Macgeorge Visiting Fellow Professor Richard Freedman (Haverford College).

Tablature: Europe 1300–1750 offers an encyclopaedic panorama of the variety of tablatures that formed part of the Western musical mainstream until c.1750. Often dismissed as eccentric and impenetrable, tablature has frequently been seen as an obstacle, and often overlooked in music history studies. One of the principal aims of this book is to break down the barriers that have hindered the general assimilation of tablature repertories into the way we understand music of the past.

Chosen from among thousands of surviving sources, this book presents a representative group of 435 tablatures selected by a team of leading international scholars to show the beauty, diversity, and practicality of the notation. For each chosen work, a facsimile shows the original notation and is accompanied by a modern transcription and commentary to demystify music that has too frequently been regarded as obscure or enigmatic.

Find out more about and order the book.

Image: Cover of Tablature: Europe, 1300–1750, Brepols, 2026.

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