Not strictly quartets, but potentially so: The Novus partus , while not nearly so extensive a collection as the Thesaurus, is of interest on several counts. It is one of the last books to have been printed from woodblock in Germany; and its 59 compositions (also in French tablature) are divided into three sections, the first having 12 pieces for three differently tuned concerting lutes and two other instruments or voices, (...) The similarities and differences between the contents of the Thesaurus and those of the Novus partus reveal the differences in musical tastes in 1603 and 1617, particularly towards concerted music. (...) The chief differences between the collections lie in the absence of vocal intabulations in the Novus partus, its emphasis on the expanded lower range of the "theorbed" lute, and the astounding increase in the number of concerted works. Julia Sutton And who said they were riddled with mistakes? G.
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