Full circle? Observations on keyboard music to c.1630 in Musica Britannica and some thoughts about the future

Reflects upon the publication of early English keyboard music from before c.1630 in the volumes of Musica Britannica, and in particular the reasons why composer-centred volumes displaced the initial source-based approach, and how the latter has come back into focus in some of the most recent volumes. The article looks forward to possible digital approaches to editing this repertoire in which source- and composer-centred approaches may be combined, with an emphasis on the issues that arose during the AHRC-funded network 'Digital directions for collected editions: keyboard music by British musicians before c.1700'. These include accessibility and the identification of existing and potential users of such editions with a view to making them sustainable in financial terms and in relation to data preservation.