Early Music Library, EML 183, London Pro Musica Edition.


Edward Blankes


These six short fantasies survive in a single source: British Library Add. MS 34800. 
Little is known of Edward Blankes (c. 1550-1633), except that he was a London wait 
from 1582 to 1594. He also composed a considerable number of psalm settings and other 
pieces for the reformed church. Apart from a five-part fantasy, the present six 
pieces are the only instrumental works of his to survive complete; four other pieces 
have parts missing in the only source.

All but one of these pieces (Fantasia IV), like some other contemporary Italian and 
English 3-part instrumental pieces of the time (e. g. Michael East's The fift set of 
books of 1618 and the instrumental pieces of Valerio Buona in LPM IMS) are written 
for two high parts of equal range, with a third part lying on average an octave lower. 
his kind of writing is almost certainly derived from the 3-part canzonetta of the 
time, in which it was almost de rigueur.

As the style — if not the texture — of these pieces is somewhat conservative, we have 
halved the note values in the present edition. A few editorial accidentals have been 
added, printed small above the stave, and applying to a single note only.

These pieces are very suitable for both recorders and viols. In preparing this 
edition, I resisted the temptation to transpose the five high-lying pieces. But the 
written pitch is by no means sacrosanct, and performers should feel free to experiment 
in this area. If recorders are used, they can be at either 4-foot or 8- foot pitch; 
for instance the first piece can be done on two tenors and a bass, and one possibility 
for many of these is two tenor recorders or flutes and a single viol.

The present edition contains all the six pieces in BL 34800, but the order has had to 
be changed to avoid turns: our six pieces are nos. 2, 3,4,1,6 and 5 respectively in 
the manuscript.


Bernard Thomas