Partbook
Encyclopedia
A partbook is a format for printing or copying sheet music
in which each book contains the part
for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the renaissance
and baroque
. This is in contrast to the large choirbook
which could be shared by an entire choir
, and appears to have been a cost-cutting measure, as large-scale printing is very much more expensive. For example, by 1529, King's College, Cambridge
had replaced almost all of its choirbooks with partbooks. The reduced cost also allowed each performer to have their own copy, and partbooks were more portable than a choirbook. They were however flimsy, and originals do not survive in large numbers.
Choral scores completely replaced individual vocal parts during the 19th century. While instruments continue to use parts for ease of page turning, these are rarely bound into 'books' and are no longer so called.
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
in which each book contains the part
Part (music)
1) A part is a strand or melody of music played by an individual instrument or voice within a larger work. Parts may be referred to as an outer part or an inner part . Part-writing is the composition of parts in consideration of harmony and counterpoint...
for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
and baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
. This is in contrast to the large choirbook
Choirbook
A Choirbook is a large format manuscript used by choirs in churches or cathedrals during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The book is large enough for the entire choir to read from one book. Often for polyphonic works all the musical parts or voices of a piece of music are presented on a single...
which could be shared by an entire choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, and appears to have been a cost-cutting measure, as large-scale printing is very much more expensive. For example, by 1529, King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
had replaced almost all of its choirbooks with partbooks. The reduced cost also allowed each performer to have their own copy, and partbooks were more portable than a choirbook. They were however flimsy, and originals do not survive in large numbers.
Choral scores completely replaced individual vocal parts during the 19th century. While instruments continue to use parts for ease of page turning, these are rarely bound into 'books' and are no longer so called.