The Ileborgh Tablature is a source of early

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

music. It was compiled by Adam Ileborgh in 1448. Since 1981 it has been in a private collection; previously the tablature was in possession of Curtis Institute of Music in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. The

tablature Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...

consists of seven folios 14.2 x 10.7 cm (earlier scholarship relied on incorrect measurements, 28 x 21 cm (Wolff, Grove)). The full title is ''Incipiunt praeludia diversarium notarum secundum modernum modum subtiliter et diligenter collecta cum mensuris diversis hic infra annexis per fratrem Adam Ileborgh Anno Domini 1448 tempore sui rectoriatus in stendall''. The musical contents of the tablature are as follows: # ''Praeambulum in C et potest variari in d f g a'' # ''Praeambulum bonum super C manualiter et variatur ad omnes'' # ''Praeambulum bonum pedale seu manuale in d'' # ''Praeambulum super d a f et g'' # ''Aliud praeambulum super d manualiter et variatur super a g f et c'' # ''Mensura trium notarum supra tenorem Frowe al myn hoffen an dyr lyed'' # ''Mensura duorum notarum eiusdem tenoris'' # ''Mensura sex notarum eiusdem tenoris'' The five preludes, here called ''praeambulum'', are the earliest known examples of the genre (Ledbetter, Grove). There is no influence of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

vocal polyphony or dance. The music consists of fast, improvisatory (i.e. lacking any strict rhythmic framework) passages in the right hand over slow moving left hand (or pedal) part. The three settings of ''Frowe al myn hoffen an dyr lyed'' ("Lady, all my hopes do lie with you") are in 3/4, 2/4 and 6/4

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

, respectively. The first is a two-voice setting, the others add a countertenor (Apel 1972, 41). Scholars differ in their assessment of the importance of the tablature and the quality of its music: while

Willi Apel Willi Apel (10 October 1893 – 14 March 1988) was a German-American musicologist and noted author of a number of books devoted to music. Among his most important publications are the 1944 edition of '' The Harvard Dictionary of Music'' and ''Fre ...

and earlier scholarship in general regarded Ileborgh's music as highly original and the manuscript particularly important (Apel 1972, 41–43), modern scholars, such as

Christoph Wolff Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...

, dispute both points and maintain that, since the music does not compare to contemporary South German sources, Ileborgh must have been an unimportant peripheral figure (Wolff, Grove). One thing is certain, though: this collection is the earliest known purely instrumental organ tablulature, not bound to vocal compositions. Although the usage of the

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

is suggested in the remarks, the tabulature does not contain a separate pedal part.

References

* Apel, Willi. 1972. ''The History of Keyboard Music to 1700''. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press. . Originally published as ''Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700'' by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel. * * {{Cite Grove, title=Adam Ileborgh, author=Wolff, Christoph, access-date=21 December 2006, url=https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.13716 Renaissance music manuscript sources