Waissel (c. 1540–1602) was a late master of the German Renaissance lute school. He was born in Bartenstein, East Prussia, studied theology at Königsberg, and traveled through Italy and Germany learning the lute. His Tabulatura of 1573 holds 53 pieces. This volume presents the first 26: preambles and fantasias, plus his settings of German Lieder, French chansons, and Italian madrigals and motets by Claudin de Sermisy, Clément Janequin (“La battaglia”), Orlando di Lasso, Clemens non Papa, Ludwig Senfl, Jacques Arcadelt, Philippe Verdelot and others.

Each piece prints Waissel’s original German lute tablature with a guitar transcription directly beneath it, so lutenists and classical guitarists can both play from the same page. With a capo at the third fret, the guitar matches the original lute pitch. The book opens with a foreword and detailed source notes in English, German and Hungarian, a chart of the lute fretboard with Waissel’s tablature signs, and facsimiles of the original 1573 pages, including his Latin dedication to Albrecht Friedrich, Duke of Prussia.

It’s a scholarly edition that’s also practical to play from, a good fit for early-music players, lutenists, classical guitarists, or a music library.