The transcriptions of the three suites - in c-minor, in C-major and in f-minor - are for 10-course lute in 'renaissance tuning', but nearly everything is playable also by an 8-course instrument.
The birth of this publication was interestingly related to the Internet. Wayne Cripps in Dartmouth has made a wonderful lute typesetting program, which he shares to everybody throuh the net. I wanted to learn to use the program and as an exercise I typesetted the c minor suite of de Visee. I placed my transcription to the net for public use (to a WWW-page and an ftp-site). Then Dick Hoban in Texas found my transcription, liked it, and suggested that his Lyre Music could publish the suite and a couple of others.
Dick Hoban sent the following announcement of my de Visee book to the posting list of Lute Society of America:
Lyre Music Publications is pleased to announce the publication of: ***** Pieces de Luth Composees par Mr de Visee ****** Three elegant suites originally composed for theorbo by Robert de Visee have been thoughtfully transcribed for lute in renaissance tuning by Arto Wikla of Finland. Designed to be played on 8-course or 10-course lute, these suites (30 pages of music) are presented together with extensive notes on style and ornamentation (including fingering examples). The de Visee suites are available for $20.00US plus $2.00US for postage in the United States. Please add $5.00US for international postage. Orders can be sent to: Lyre Music Publications 3710 Bellaire Circle Fort Worth, TX 76109 USA or contact us at: D.Hoban@tcu.edu