Editing English Consort Music: Past, Present and Future

The Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain has engaged productively with scholarship since its inception. Ongoing work on the future of scholarly, digital editions of music is as much to do with the general principles of editing as digital platforms, and editions associated with the society provide models of good practice in the recording of metadata, a community science model of creating editions, and making information findable and accessible. These editions illustrate varying approaches to editing music where texts differ substantively from source to source. A distinction is made between 'scholarly' and 'critical', and between transcribing and editing. Editions of music for viol consort are particularly relevant when considering the intended user.