Fretwork Publishing

The idea of Fretwork Editions grew out of the need to produce performance material of unpublished music in the early days of the viol consort Fretwork, which was formed in 1985. In 1989 the Fretwork Editions imprint was created by General Editor William Hunt, a founder member of the consort. We soon embarked on some complete editions that cover major areas of the English consort repertoire, featuring composers such as John Coprario, Thomas Lupo and William Lawes, as well as major collections of work by William Byrd and John Jenkins amongst others. The editions are compiled by some of the leading scholars in the field, with detailed critical material, but incorporating performing parts which give the fullest consideration to the practical needs of the player. The focus has been mostly on English composers for viols, but has expanded to include voices, in particular the large but still too little known repertoire of the consort verse anthem, which flourished rapidly in the early 17th century. Masterpieces by composers including Byrd, Gibbons, Tomkins and several others are featured in the ‘In Chains of Gold’ series of recordings made in the Orlando Gibbons Project and more will be made available in new editions over the next few years. Our publications are suitable both for single voice performance and for choirs, for whom we operate a simple and economic digital licensing system, which enables us to provide wide flexibility in choice of keys, clefs and quantity.