|
|
The White Hat Guide to the Mandolin
The mandolin is a plucked string instrument which developed from earlier instruments in the late Renaissance - in particular the mandora. It continued to develop in various forms and sizes in different countries and from different makers. If you have a spare three hours ask a friendly mandolin player about the styles of mandolin out there. As these pages concern themselves with classical music we will restrict ourselves mainly with those that have found their way into that field, such as those shown to the right. The mandolin became popular for street and light entertainment in Italy and still remains an almost obligatory instrument for Neapolitan song. Further north it was regarded as the sort of discreet parlour instrument which a young lady of quality could play in a seated position without having to indulge in the unseemly and sweaty practice of bowing required by an instrument such as a violin. A common form of the mandolin was at the same pitch and tuned in the same manner as the violin which meant that simple violin music could transfer straight to the mandolin. However a mandolin, which is usually played with a plectrum, has very little 'sustain' and each note dies away very quickly which would seem to make it unsuitable for flowing 'singing' melodies. This problem is solved by tremolando - a repetition of the one note for as long as required as the plectrum is moved backwards and forwards rapidly across the strings. If there was just a single string (as on most guitars) per course then the sound would stop each time the plectrum came in contact with the string and not restart until the plucking action had finished. Thus if you listened to the sound in slow motion it be something like "pling - dull thud - silence - pling - dull thud - silence - pling' etc. Not a particularly pleasing sound. However, as the mandolin usually has two strings per course (at least in the lower and middle registers) than one string continues to ring while the other is in contact with the plectrum. Much more satisfactory. In fact it is this tremolando that people most immediately associate with the mandolin. When you hear you are wafted off to that night in the moonlight with the warm Mediterranean breezes, the romantic music drifting across the water, the soft breath on your neck, the increased heart rate, the smooth silk being . . . Sorry, we got carried away, but that's what the mandolin can do. Because of its association, the mandolin was sometimes introduced in opera to denote a street performer or courtly serenader. Probably the best known example is the serenade "Deh vieni alla finestra" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. It finds its way into Baroque music with some notable concertos by Vivaldi. The mandolin became a popular salon instrument in Vienna and Beethoven wrote several works for mandolin and piano. (Special mention should perhaps be made of Fauré's song Mandoline. In this setting of Verlaine's poem, Fauré' uses a piano accompaniment in the style of a mandolin.) By the twentieth century, certain composers found that the sharp attack and quick decay of the mandolin could be a positive asset for certain styles of spiky avant-garde music and it is used in this way by Schoenberg and Berg. Later composers stretched the instrument further. For instance George Crumb in his Ancient Voices of Children has the two strings in each course tuned a quarter-tone apart to eerie effect. In film music, the mandolin is quickly called into play to evoke an atmosphere of Italian 'doce vita'. However it takes a composer like Nino Rota to take the use of mandolin past the evocation of mere local colour. A good example can be found in his orchestration of the waltz from The Godfather.
BL
|
Copyright © 1995 -
2008
White Hat.
|
No events currently submitted.
 | Scott Joplin: Ragtime Solos And Duets (20 Scott Joplin Favorites) Composed by Scott Joplin (1868-1917), arranged by Jerry Silverman. C instrument duet songbook for C instrument duet (flute, recorder, oboe, violin, mandolin, harmonica). With duet notation and chord names. 62 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc. (HL.50462620)
See more info... |
 | Easiest Mandolin Book By William Bay. For mandolin. Songbook. Easiest. All styles. Level: Beginning. Book. Size 8.75x11.75. 32 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (94833)
See more info... |
 | Celtic Mandolin Encyclopedia By Robert Bancalari. For Mandolin. Solos. Encyclopedia. Celtic/Irish. Level: Beginning-Intermediate. Book. Size 8.75x11.75. 144 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (98197)
See more info... |
| Page last updated: | 25 August, 2008 | | URL:
|
|
|
