Fitzwilliam Virginal Book

A collection of pieces from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. This is a large collection of keyboard pieces from the late 16th and early 17thC, by a variety of composers, mostly English, of the period. In many cases, the pieces in the FWVB are known from no other source, and represent a large fraction of the composer's known output.

Virginals is a generic term for any keyboard instrument of the period, ranging from quiet domestic clavichords through spinets to harpsichords and organs.

Wiki gives much more information than is appropriate here about the provenance of the collection, and its availability. These sequences are based almost entirely on the Dover edition [1963], a reprint of the publication edited by J. A. Fuller Maitland and W. Barclay Squire [Breitkopf and Hartel, 1899], but I have other copies of many of the best pieces, and these have been useful especially when considering ornamentation.

The pieces are given in their order in the FWVB; Roman numerals in brackets are numbers in the above edition.

• For more information about MP3 and Midi files, and especially for why they may not work well, or even at all, on your computer, see here.
• To see/hear pieces sorted by composer, click on the link under composer. The composer pages also usually include much more information about the composer and about the individual pieces featured.
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• Music marked here as restricted access is still under copyright and performance limitations in the UK; further details are given in the associated Composer page [if accessible to you].
• For general information about copyright and performance restrictions, see here.

Sequencing: Copyright © Andy Walker, 2020-22. You may use all my work freely for private purposes; commercial use is permitted only with my permission.

    Andy Walker, anw [at] cuboid4.me.uk [remove digit to construct address]