Small publishers and stockists

Early music on the web can be found in all sorts of crannies. We have rounded some of them up – have a wander.
  • Acadia Early Music Resources - a site run by Acadia University, Canada -- not a commercial publisher, but they produce some facsimiles that you can inspect online; also look at their chronological timelines, such as this for the later fifteenth century
  • Ancient Groove Music: editions of sacred choral music, with "the highest standards of music engraving, academic rigour and performability" (they'd better have - the site includes Dos and Don'ts for music engravers). Also a few books, including what looks a fine reprint of Thomas Morley's Plaine and Easy Introduction, some essays and some free sheet music.
  • Asclepius Editions have a short catalogue of viol pieces, including 12 Sonatas by C F Abel. Part of Amarilli Books
  • Artaria Editions specialises in rare Viennese eighteenth-century and early nineteenth repertoire - Beck, Dussek, Hofmann, and Wanhal - and works with Naxos so that you can read the same score the recording artists used.
  • Brian Jordan Specialises in early music books and sheet music. Now has released a useful series of consort music, each volume containing several pieces at a very reasonable price.
  • Cantiones Press provides "attractive and authoritative editions of Renaissance choral music". One of their imprints, Ars Subtilior, provides "a facsimile of the original, a 'half-way-house' version, and a full, modern transcription." Lots of Tallis on its way in another of their imprints. [FEB 2006: this link is broken and I can't find where their site has gone. Anyone know?]
  • Cheap Choice Brave and New  - "editions of early-music repertoire and sources for recorders and other instruments in a user-friendly CD-ROM format with selected titles also available as hard copies". Hasn't made a lot of progress in the last 6 years – still just two titles listed. Now an eBay shop.
  • Cheap Trills publish 'reasonable editions of rare music' for small groups of recorders or viols, a small but interesting list. This is an American site and they don't mention postage costs.
  • CD Sheet Music supply CDs containing pdf files of music - I think they are scans of out-of-copyright editions, so they may not contain the latest scholarly knowledge, but on the other hand you do get value for money: $20-25 for complete sets of 'great name' organ, keyboard, vocal, choral etc. works. Not specifically Early Music but Bach is well represented. Order online, pay postage from the US.
  • Chiltern Recorder Consort Series & Musica Domestica: mainly recorder arrangements (some for recorders or viols) in varying numbers of parts, from 2 to 15, covering renaissance, baroque, and 18th-20th century music. Hand written by Alex Ayre. Several pieces from The Triumphs of Oriana.  Note Alex Ayre died in 2009. His arrangements can still be bought from Recorder Music Mail
  • Corda Music (includes Golden Phoenix publications) -- music for classical guitar, for strings and for early instruments
  • Cunning Editions - performing parts for works previously only in score, and existing works 'cunningly arranged' for other instrumental combinations. (For a 'reasonable fee' a title can be sponsored, with a dedication in the style of the period.) Suggestions for future titles welcomed. NOTE At the time of writing (Aug 2012) the website was just a stub, saying "new website coming soon".
  • Dovehouse Editions - series for Baroque chamber music, Italian renaissance consort music, and viola da gamba. Their website is 'temporarily' part of The Recorder Shop's website.
  • Edition Baroque is a new small publisher from Bremen. Catalog available in English or German (everything else German-only); mainly baroque music from minor but interesting composers. Website home page has a 'rotating' ornament which I find very irritating. Pity: it probably took ages to program
  • Edition Güntersberg - solo viol music, mainly German, of 17th and 18th centuries: bilingual German/English website. (Careful with this one: the name is Güntersberg, with a ü, but the website URL is www.guentersberg.de, with the umlaut written out as ue)
  • Edition Michael Procter offers renaissance choral music, with a long list of composers - about 80, at a quick guess. The 'renaissance' is interpreted generously, as both the Eton choirbook and Georg Muffat (b. 1654) appear. 
  • Edition Walhall seem to have a fair-sized list with quite a bit of early music, including some little-known names (Christoph Sätzl, d. 1655; Sulpita Cesis, b, 1577; Chiara Margarita Cozzalani, 1602-1677). 
  • Green Man Press - performing editions of works for voices with and without obbligato instruments. Good value
  • Hawthorns Music - early music, music for recorder and music for organ; also, less predictably, blackwork embroidery patterns for early music motifs. You can listen to the scores in midi from the catalogue - nice touch.
  • Jacks, Pipes and Hammers - "for all your early music, viola da gamba and recorder sheet music". A very inclusive stock, with plenty of foreign material - they say they can get anything. Jacks, Pipes and Hammers also hold original JPH Publications and Kings Music
  • JPH Publications produce English music of the 17th & 18th centuries in facsimile for various instruments. Now part of King's Music (see below).
  • King's Music - specialises in the provision and publication of facsimile or Urtext performing editions. Also publishes Early Music Review. Can't find their website.
  • London Pro Musica has a huge list ("one of the largest collections of early music in practical editions in the world" they say), mainly secular music approx 1450-1650, in cheap and very practical editions.
  • Lute Society publishes and supplies lute music
  • Mapa Mundi - renaissance including Guerrero. Combined with Vanderbeek & Imrie Ltd. 16th century Latin church music and contemporary music.
  • Mostly Music Renaissance vocal music in practical editions: Byrd, Tallis, Lassus, etc, plus madrigals by Wilbye, Bateson, etc. Also study booklets on various topics, aimed at A level music students.
  • Music By The Score supplies second-hand and out-of-print sheet music, with an easy-to-use online, searchable catalogue. The sections on viol music, recorder music and early music are worth checking, especially as, when I ordered a set of parts, they generously threw in a score for free.
  • Musiekhandel Saul B. Groen Amsterdam-based specialists in mail order for early music and books
  • OMI - Old Manuscripts & Incunabula describes itself as "the leading source of facsimile editions of music and art." Although OMI mainly distibutes other facsimile editions it does offer a few of its own, ranging from the Eton Choirbook to Mahler's 7th.
  • Oriana Music - madrigal editions with individual parts for players, lyra viol music, beginners' editions of viol music. Bahngasse 11, 3420 Kritzendorf, Austria. No website as yet (Aug 2012); email [email protected] for a catalogue
  • ​Ostinato German publisher, website in German only; mixed list of early and modern, emphasis on vocal music
  • Practicall Musicke Editions offer pieces mainly from the English consort period, for viols and in some cases recorders, including Andrew Kerr's reconstructions of six Byrd pavans and galliards. No website, but a catalogue can be emailed on request from [email protected]
  • PRB Music instrumental and vocal music from the Baroque and Classical eras, as well as original contemporary works for early and modern instruments, and voices. Some important titles, but the catalogue is a pain to search - dozens of clicks onto new pages, instead of just looking down a list.
  • PRB Music instrumental and vocal music from the Baroque and Classical eras, as well as original contemporary works for early and modern instruments, and voices. Some important titles, but the catalogue is a pain to search - dozens of clicks onto new pages, instead of just looking down a list.
  • Prima la musica  Urtext performing editions of Baroque and Early Classical music, "from solo motets to opera, from trio sonatas to symphonies. Suggestions for additions to the catalogue welcomed. Commissions too. Run by Brian Clark (ex King's Music)". [NOTE made in 2007: "This website won't work with some browsers - I've told Brian Clark but it seems to be seen as the public's fault if they use the wrong software".. Might have been fixed by now (2012)]
  • Recorder Music Mail - many useful links for recorder players including a page listing printed catalogues supplied on request
  • Rondo Publishing music for historical, modern and contemporary string instruments, also recorders; chamber music, teaching editions, consorts, and distributor for Passemezzo (facsimiles and 'fine editions') and The Notehouse People (music for young children).
  • Saraband Music publish modern playing editions of early music, indexed by instrument. (Beware - 'viol music' is separate from 'bowed strings'.) Having chosen your pieces you have to make a written list and then look under 'News and Assistance' for ordering information. Hmmm. And then you have to tell them what you want before you can find out the postage from Australia costs. Hmmm again.
  • Seicento publish their own early music editions and also supply other publishers' editions and facsimiles. Lute, viol, violin, consort music, keyboard, recorder, flute, guitar, theorbo, etc. German-based, but they accept mail order from their extensive on-line catalogue
  • Tree Edition publish a good deal of lute music, mostly renaissance and baroque but some modern too. German-based.
  • Turtels & Twins Press offer "Reniassance [sic] & Baroque Performance Editions", mostly for lute. E.g. Very Easy English Lute Music, Popular Elizabethan Lute Music etc, including The Euphonious Lute containing original lute music in renaissance style by the publisher, Matthew Weinman. Other musicians might also be interested in the Renaissance Fake Book. In jazz, a fake book contains melody, chords and words for a song, or just melody and chords for a dance tune. This renaissance version contains 121 tunes such as: "The Maids In Constrite - Maydes are Simple Some men Say - The Merry old woman - Monsiers Alamaine - The Morris - The Most Sacred Queen Elizabeth Her Galliard - Mr. Dowlands Midnight - Mris Nichols Almain". Also a book of renaissance grounds over which to improvise.
  • Viola da Gamba Society viol music, much of it unpublished elsewhere. Newly typeset - used to be all handwritten, idiosyncratically, which was charming but sometimes tricky. This link goes straight to the publications page.
  • The Viola da Gamba Society of America publishes a fair number of pieces for viol consort, including some contemporary pieces. They also offer a small amount of free music for viols, including the Jenkins 4, 5 and 6 part fantasias and excerpts from the Manchester Lute Book in immediately downloadable form.
  • ​York Early Music Press - Choral and vocal works pre-1800, though primarily 1550-1700 scholarly performing editions with performance practice information, etc. Scores available for licensed photocopying. Linked to University of York Music Dept and York Early Music Festival.