Every composition in the Early Music series of Scholarly Brass Editions contains the source facsimiles, an Urtext edition with errata, and a minimally interpretive performance edition.  Such should satisfy the widest possible range of needs.  Our performance editions are of particular value for being notated at A₄ = 440Hz.  These works were composed during a period when A₄ ≈ 466Hz on cornettos, trombones, and organs (i.e. a Baroque A = a current B-flat).  Performing the original notation on an instrument conceived of as being at A440 would result in all sounding pitches being a semitone too low.

With this series, players can perform the composer’s original intent without having to learn new fingerings or slide positions.  To clarify, playing a SBE performance edition part on a B-flat tenor trombone (A440) and playing the same Urtext edition part on an A tenor ‘sackbut’ (A466) will produce the same sounding frequencies.  To further facilitate performance, when and where appropriate, supplemental parts are included in transposition and/or alternate clefs (e.g. E-flat alto trombone played using B-flat tenor trombone slide positions via notation a perfect fourth lower than sounding pitch and in tenor clef).  For elucidation, see supporting dissertation here.

The paper used in our publications meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R2009).

While no staple complies with the National Information Standards Organization and the Library Binding Committee of the Book Manufacturers’ Institute, ANSI/NISO/LBC Z39.78-2000 (R2018), the staples used in our publications are rustproof monel alloy (67% nickel, 33% copper).