Dow partbooks (GB-Och Mus. 984 - 988)
date : 1585?
main copiest : Robert Dow the younger(1554 - 1588)
detail date : please see DIAMM site
No.72 (William Byrd) "Browning"
Well, there is no need to say much about this piece. This is the second time I have created this piece from the original source, after the Baldwin manuscript. It has become a standard piece for recorder ensembles, and since it is very difficult to play it in the original key, it has become a standard practice to play it a whole tone higher.
Now, in the score I have created this time, only the 4th voice (Bass 1) has less key signature.
It is common in the music of those days that the key signature differs from part to part, but it is usually integrated into the central key signature at the stage of transferring to the modern score, so if you only look at the modern score, you will not notice the situation of those days. I have always kept the key signature in the original since the first time I came in contact with the original(Canti B by O. Petrucci), so those who are not familiar with it may have suspected that I made a mistake.
Now, in this case of Dow, it is obvious from the situation of the manuscript that he first wrote the whole thing with two flats and then realized the error and deleted the unnecessary flats. Moreover, some of the columns have been deleted, while others have been left with two flats. I wondered what to do with this situation, since there is no example of it, but I thought it would be more interesting to reproduce it as it is, so I faithfully reproduced it. I forgot to mention that the other parts of the program also have occasional changes in key signatures, so please make sure that they are also reproduced properly.
http://aeolianconsort.chakin.com/Dow_partbooks.htm#No_60
