Partbook

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.

References

• The Forrest-Heyther Partbooks: Lesser Composers