Development from the beginning until today

Edition Güntersberg came into being because we wanted to broaden the repertoire of viola da gamba music by practical editions of unavailable (or no longer available) or otherwise unpublished music. As time went by we enlarged the number and type of instruments, but the music for viola da gamba is without doubt still our focal point.

Our work is devoted to consort music as well as to chamber and solo music. With our editions we aim not only at professional musicians, but also at all other people who perform music.

We started in 1998 with the edition of the complete instrumental works by Eustache Du Caurroy in 7 volumes for consort of 3 to 5 parts. In the year 2000 this was followed by an edition of the instrumental music by Andreas Hammerschmidt (“Erster Fleiß” and ”Ander Theil” for consort of 5 parts).

After that we published a comprehensive collection of the era of the „Berlin School“ under the title „Königliche Gambenduos“ – „Royal Gamba Duets“ as a First Edition. In 2002 and 2003 several works from this period followed, for example the first edition of the two Trios Concertante by Johann Gottlieb Graun and sonatas for viola da gamba by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Christoph Schaffrath.

In 2004 we published three trios of the same epoch by J. G. Graun for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord. For these editions we could use the sources of the Berlin Sing-Akademie, which were by then accessible again - two of which are autographs. Another high point was the publication of the 6 sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo by Philipp Heinrich Erlebach. For consort we edited among others the well received sonatas for 5 and 6 parts by Clemens Thieme.

In 2005 the third sonata for viola da gamba by C. P. E. Bach was published. Besides the well known version for gamba or viola we also published the version for violin, based on a manuscript from the Berlin Sing-Akademie. Furthermore, we published the double concerto for violin and viola da gamba by J. G. Graun, which was a major project for us. Also noteworthy is our first edition of a collection of early classical sonatas for two bass viols from Paris at about 1750, which we called “Pariser Gambenduos” – “Parisian Gamba Duets”. The composer of these still remains unknown today, in spite of our intensive research in this matter.

In 2005 for the first time we published some facsimile editions. The biggest success of these was the solo by Buxtehude, in which facsimile and modern edition are present in the same booklet. Also in this year we published our first editions without viola da gamba: six sonatas by Guignon for two violoncelli (and in a separate edition for 2 gambas), and the abovementioned sonata by C. P. E. Bach for violin and harpsichord. The total number of our available titles has risen to 74 at the end of 2005.

In 2006 we began publishing all of Dieterich Buxtehude's instrumental sonatas in individual editions. By popular request, there are two scores for each title: one with and one without continuo realisation. There was also a new edition of Buxtehude's Jubilate Domino. In addition, as a jubilee number (G100), we published the first edition of the anonymous Lübecker Violadagamba Solo, which could also have been written by Buxtehude. From the Berlin School period we published two important works: the viola version of Graun's Double Concerto and the Schaffrath Duetto for viola da gamba.

The first publication of the string quartet version of the Mozart Requiem by the Milanese doctor and Mozart friend Peter Lichtenthal proved to be very successful. We have planned further chamber music versions of this kind of Mozart's works for next year. Altogether, the number of our titles has grown to 99 at the end of 2006.

The year 2007 was dominated by Buxtehude, who is celebrating the 300th anniversary of his death this year. We have now published new editions of all 21 of his instrumental sonatas. We have also published three vocal works by Buxtehude and a cantata by Dietrich Becker. By Mozart/Lichtenthal we edited the Symphony in G minor for string quintet and the Piano Concerto in D minor for piano and string quartet. In addition, we published some chamber music works for viola da gamba or cello (Handel, Hertel, Locke, Abel). At the turn of the year, the number of our titles had grown to 125. As in the previous year, the bestseller was the Requiem by Mozart/Lichtenthal for string quartet.

In 2008 we continued our program with 18 new titles in all the sections we had started. The Buxtehude series was completed with two vocal works. The Scherzi musicali by Johann Schenck are now complete. Two concertos for viola da gamba were added: the one by Johann Pfeiffer and an adaptation of the Telemann Viola Concerto. From the Berlin School period there is now another trio by Johann Gottlieb Graun for two viols (or flute and violin). With the famous cello duet by Abel we have a new work for the cellists and with Gabriel Schütz's Sonata one from the "Lübeck School" for the gambists.

Our biggest project in 2009 was the edition of a total of 52 of Joseph Haydn's baryton trios in two volumes. Obtaining the sources was particularly time-consuming, because the documents for the individual divertimenti are scattered halfway around the world, but this also meant that we had some interesting encounters. We decided on an Urtext edition in which our additions and changes are really kept to a minimum. As a by-product of this work, we have produced an edition of the so-called Simrock Trios; these are six baryton trios that were reworked for flute, violin and cello during Haydn's lifetime. – The series of Christmas pieces by Michael Praetorius was continued with two four-part booklets. We started anew with the edition of another standard work from Germany for viola da gamba: the "Sonate ô Partite" by August Kühnel. Here we are selling the continuo realisation separately for the first time, in order to determine how important such realisations are for our customers. New editions 2009

In 2010 we brought our series of Michael Praetorius' Christmas pieces to a close. We now offer all the Christmas pieces in a total of 12 booklets, with the number of voices ranging from two to eight. Unfortunately, the more than four-part movements of this beautiful music find few buyers. It was interesting to collaborate with the Australian Handel scholar Graham Pont on the publication of the Concerto in C major by George Frideric Handel. This means that we now have all three of Handel's chamber works that can be associated with viola da gamba in our program. From the holdings of the Sing-Akademie we were able to publish, among other things, the previously unknown Concerto for gamba in C major by Johann Gottlieb Graun. As another work of the Berlin School, we have begun with the elaborate edition of Les Surprises de l'amour for viols. This ballet opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau was arranged for two viols by Ludwig Christian Hesse - one of the many opera arrangements for the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. For the cellists, we published an Urtext edition of the "Six Sonates non difficiles" by Jean-Baptiste Bréval, as we found that none of the previous editions of this standard work leaves the original musical text unchanged. - In total, we have expanded our offer by 18 editions this year. New editions 2010.

At the beginning of 2011 we published the 12 violin sonatas by Ignazio Albertini and the 12 Duplex Genius sonatas by Christoph Pez. In the series of works of the Berlin School we added the important A major trio by Johann Gottlieb Graun, the only trio by him for violin and viola da gamba. We also completed the Rameau/Hesse edition of Les Surprises de l'amour. With the Primitiae Chelicae by Conrad Höffler we began work on another standard work of German viola da gamba literature. We published further works by Carl Friedrich Abel from the late period of the viola da gamba: six trios op. 9 and a quartet. And for consort friends we published the Stricturae viola-di-gambicae by David Funck in an edition that takes the needs of viola da gamba players into account. New editions 2011.

In 2012 we completed work in February on three booklets of pieces for viola da gamba lessons, which had already occupied us and Richard Sutcliffe throughout 2011 and which were very well received by our customers. Later in the year we finally received the long-awaited permission to publish the viol sonatas by J.C. Bach, so that we were able to publish them exclusively together with Thomas Fritzsch in July. This was followed by various chamber music works with viola da gamba and some other works, in total there were 13 new releases this year New editions 2012.

The year 2013 was marked above all by our work with Sainte-Colombe, which had already occupied a large part of 2012. For the transcription of this music into modern notation, many questions had to be discussed and decided. In the middle of the year, the collection of Tournus manuscripts appeared in a modern edition of 160 pages. For the first time we produced a larger edition in offset printing and with thread stitching, for which we had to find new partners. By the end of the year, three more booklets with selected concertos by Sainte-Colombe for two viols were published. This was followed by the 12 suites for viola da gamba and basso continuo by Carolus Hacquart. For many of the suites, the bass had to be reconstructed, as it has only survived for a small part of the movements. This work was undertaken by Dankwart von Zadow. In addition to other gamba works, we also published three booklets of cello duos by Zyka (father and son). With 18 new publications New editions 2013, our collection has grown to a total of 242 items.

The most important event in 2014 was our exclusive publication of Abel's previously unknown Second Pembroke Collection. We also printed the anonymous Instruction, our first treatise with explanations, which is also our first booklet in landscape format. Another gamba concerto by Graun was published for the next Bach-Abel competition in Köthen. We are pleased to have had the support for these projects by Thomas Fritzsch, Bettina Hoffmann, Michael O'Loghlin and Siegfrief Pank. This year we also had the opportunity to look through the estate of the cellist Alfred Lessing, who had compiled an extensive collection of cello and viol literature since the 1950s. This gave us many ideas. The idea to publish the cello duos by Giacobo Cervetto came from this source. With the addition of further editions for viola da gamba(s) New editions 2014, our offering has now grown to a total of 258 items.

In 2015 we published the first edition of the six sonatas for pianoforte and violoncello by Johann Melchior Dreyer, which we like very much. Then, after extensive research, we published 12 anonymous sonatas from Kassel as attributed to Handel, in two versions: for recorder (original) and for viola da gamba (arranged). The attribution to Handel brought some criticism, and later it also turned out that some of the sonatas are probably by Johann Jacob Kress. Nevertheless, the recorder edition in particular was a popular purchase in 2016. 16 new publications increased our collection to 274 items this year New editions 2015.

2016 was marked by two big events for the viol world: First, together with Thomas Fritzsch, we were able to gradually publish the Ledenburg collection discovered in 2015. This began with the much-acclaimed edition of Telemann's 12 fantasies for solo viola da gamba. This was followed by 6 editions with unknown solo sonatas for viola da gamba as well as 2 editions with trios. Our detailed description of the Ledenburg Collection will appear in the Online Journal of the British Viola da Gamba Society in 2017. Secondly, in November, together with Sonia Wronkowska, the Maltzan Collection was published in a total of 10 first editions. The collection was only recently discovered in Poland and contains above all over 20 previously unknown viol sonatas by Abel. In total, we had 27 new publications this year, so that our offer has grown to 301 items New editions 2016.

In 2017 we continued the publication of the Ledenburg Collection with two small viola da gamba concertos (Milling, Raetzel) and two trios (Schwindl, Gretsch). A major effort was also required by J.C. Bach's Six Quartets Op. 8, whose edition goes back to the Kulukundis collection. Our edition of Praetorius' Christmas Bicinia for low instruments was well received. For cello we published, among other things, the first edition of the Six Easy Duets by Reingale, and for consort there were the four-part Paduans and Galliards by Balthasar Fritsch. Four texts were published this year, which you can download, including our updated gamba works catalogue by Abel Papers. In total we had 17 new publications, bringing our offering to 318 items. New editions 2017.

In 2018, we began work on an up-to-date catalogue of all of Carl Friedrich Abel's works. As a result, the work on editions fell somewhat into the background. Nevertheless, there were still interesting new publications such as the four suites by Jaques Morel and Abel's extensive Pembroke collection. With the new edition of Abel's Drexel manuscript, we now have all the works for viola da gamba by this composer in our repertoire (with the exception of Sifari). Our long-time bestseller, the Mozart Requiem, has now been clearly overtaken by the Telemann Fantasies Bestseller. We had a total of 16 new releases, bringing our offerings to 334 items.

In 2019, we have mainly focused on the work on the Abel catalogue of works, working on the categories with one, two, three and four instruments. Nevertheless, there are 14 new publications. These include Abel's six quartets op. 12 and one previously unknown flute and violin sonata each. A larger project was the 7 editions from the Sünching manuscript by Gottfried Finger with bass composed for it by Wolfgang Kostujak. Our collection has grown to 348 items.

The year 2020 was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have therefore changed our plans and brought out several works for viola da gamba solo. These include the Cracow Manuscript (Dubuisson, Hotman, Young) and the edition of all solo works by Sainte-Colombe le fils. For consort we now have the complete Musicalischer Lüstgarte by Johannes Schultz in our program. Our offering includes 370 items. Work continued on the Abel catalogue of works.

In 2021 we published Abel's Six Prussian Symphonies in a major effort, for which we gratefully received a grant from VG Musikedition. Also out of the frame were the Variations by Franz Xaver Chwatal for viola da gamba and pianoforte from 1828. We now have a version of the Fantasias by Telemann for violoncello and our program includes 391 items. Work on the Abel work catalogue has been intensified, and an end is in sight!

In 2022, work on the Abel work catalogue was continued and completed. The catalogue was published by ortus musikverlag in February 2023. The reference book in English has 470 pages of summary and sample pages. The new work numbers bear the prefix "AbelWV", and the catalogue of works is referred to as AbelWV for short. AbelWV replaces the previous catalogues by Walter Knape (1971) and Peter Holman/Günter von Zadow (2016). In addition, 13 new editions appeared in 2022. The most important and extensive of these are four of Abel's solo concertos (flute G in major, flute in F major, flute E minor, harpsichord), which were unknown to Knape, and the violin concerto in E major. The edition of these Abel concertos was supported by the Kulturfonds of VG Musikedition. Our edition of Matthew Locke's For several Friends met with great interest. With four pieces for viola da gamba from the 19th century we opened our new series Musikalische Wunderkammer Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt. – We continue to place sample pages and introductions of all our editions onto our website. Our program now comprises more than 400 items, which we deliver as before exclusively to Edition Walhall, from where distribution is organised. New is that we now have some of our older editions printed under licence by Edition Walhall.

Edition Güntersberg will be 25 years old in 2023. Leonore von Zadow-Reichling, Günter von Zadow and the publishing house Edition Güntersberg received the Carl Friedrich Abel Prize 2023 from the city of Köthen (Anhalt) in June. Among other things, we published a complete edition of the instrumental pieces by the French composer Henry Du Mont (G418–G421) and Abel's Seven Berlin Trios (G429–G432). For viola da gamba players we now finally offer Demachy's Eight Suites for viola da gamba solo (G400) and three volumes with music by John Jenkins (G411–G412 and G414). Our Musikalische Wunderkammer series has received a major addition with the publication of Schubert's "Unfinished" in the version for one, two and three cellos by Christoph Habicht (G402–G403).