Program Notes

By Robert A. Margo

The repertoire for mandolin orchestra includes both original works and arrangements. Familiar from its use as the theme music in a DeBeers (diamond) commercial, Karl Jenkins' "Palladio" has been expertly arranged for mandolin orchestra by Alex Timmerman, director of the Dutch group "Het Consort". Luis Gianneo was one of the first Argentine composers to make use of folk idioms in his work such as the "Five Pieces [Cinco Piezas]" for violin and piano written in 1942. Mandolin aficionados treasure an LP recording by the German mandolinist Jacob Thomas that included Gianneo's arrangement of three of the five original movements for solo mandolin and string orchestra. The American composer John Craton recently made his own arrangement of all five movements for solo mandolin and mandolin orchestra, and it is the Craton version that the PMO performs this afternoon.

The remaining works on the program are original compositions for mandolin orchestra. Annette Kruisbrink is a Dutch composer who has written extensively for the guitar in solo and chamber music settings. According to the composer, "'Dreamtime' is a fusion of dreams … [on] the one hand there are the hurried Western people who do not consider dreams … as important … [then] there is the Aboriginals' world in which dreams are directly connected with life and the hereafter[.]" Clarice Assad is a pianist, vocalist, and composer living in New York City and the daughter of the celebrated classical guitarist Sergio Assad. Composed for the PMO and included on its recent CD Spectrum, "Song for My Father" pays homage to the composer's native Brazil with the piquant melodies and syncopated rhythms. Filled with unusual scales and harmonies, Raffaele Calace's "Impressioni Orientale" was written aboard ship during the composer's return from a triumphant tour of Japan in the 1920s. Betty Beath is a contemporary Australian composer with an extensive catalog of chamber and orchestral works. Written originally for the Sydney Mandolins, "Lament for Kosovo" has been performed worldwide in a later version for string orchestra, including by the Rhode Island Philharmonic. The concert closes with a remarkable new piece for mandolin ensemble, Francine Trester's "Three Movements", which the Orchestra premiered in 2007. An Associate Professor of Composition at the Berkelee School of Music, Trester's award-winning vocal and instrumental work has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and in Australia.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra was founded by the late Hibbard Perry in 1971.  Since then, it has become one of the leading American mandolin ensembles, with regular appearances throughout the Eastern United States, Canada, and Western Europe.   The Providence Mandolin Orchestra is under the direction of Mark Davis.  Mr. Davis pursues an active career as a solo and ensemble performer, educator, and conductor.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the support of the D'Addario Foundation.

"Song for My Father" is featured on the Providence Mandolin Orchestra's CD Spectrum.  Copies of Spectrum will be available for purchase at today's concert. Visit the website of the Providence Mandolin Orchestra to purchase Spectrum on-line and to learn more about the mandolin and its music: www.mandolin-orchestra.org. Visit www.youtube.com/ProvidenceMandolin to see videos of the PMO.

Program Notes

By Robert A. Margo

As a classical instrument, the mandolin has its origins in the eighteenth century, but it was around the turn of the twentieth century that the instrument reached its zenith of popularity in the Old and New Worlds.  By World War I interest in the mandolin had largely died out in America, but the instrument retained a passionate following in other countries, particularly in Europe and Japan. Beginning in the 1970s the United States has experienced a revival of interest in classical mandolin.  This evening's concert features the Providence Mandolin Orchestra (Rhode Island), one of the leading classical mandolin ensembles in the United States.

The contemporary American mandolin orchestra includes first and second mandolins (tuned like the violin), the mandola (viola), the mandocello (cello), the mandobass (string bass), and classical guitar as harmonic support.  American orchestras tend to use flat or carved back instruments that are descended from instruments designed in the late nineteenth century by Orville Gibson, in contrast to European ensembles that use the traditional "bowlback" mandolin.

The repertoire for mandolin orchestra includes both original works and arrangements.   Familiar from its use as the theme music in a DeBeers (diamond) commercial, Karl Jenkins' "Palladio" has been expertly arranged for mandolin orchestra by Alex Timmerman, director of the Dutch group "Het Consort".  Timmerman is also responsible for the arrangement of "Canzone" by Jurriaan Andriessen, a Dutch composer who studied with Olivier Messiaen and was revered in the Netherlands for his vocal and theatrical music.

The remaining works on the program are original compositions for mandolin orchestra.  Raffaele Calace's "Impressioni Orientale" was written aboard ship on the composer's return from a triumphant tour of Japan in the 1920s.  Owen Hartford has written many works for the PMO during his long tenure with the ensemble.  Filled with piquant chords and oblique melodic gestures, "Three Songs" can be performed with the melody line handled by violin (played this evening by Rachel Panitch) or sung (by soprano).   Robert Martel's "Wrung from the Silence" is a complex, multi-movement work featuring pounding rhythms and plangent modal harmonies.  Annette Kruisbrink is a Dutch composer who has written extensively for the guitar in solo and chamber music settings.   According to the composer, "'Dreamtime' is a fusion of dreams …  [on] the one hand there are the hurried Western people who do not consider dreams … as important … [then] there is the Aboriginals' world in which dreams are directly connected with life and the hereafter[.]" The concert closes with a remarkable new piece for mandolin ensemble, Francine Trester's "Three Movements", which the Orchestra premiered in 2007.  An Associate Professor of Composition at the Berkelee School of Music, Trester's award-winning vocal and instrumental work has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and in Australia.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra was founded by the late Hibbard Perry in 1971.  Since then, it has become one of the leading American mandolin ensembles, with regular appearances throughout the Eastern United States, Canada, and Western Europe.   The Providence Mandolin Orchestra is under the direction of Mark Davis.  Mr. Davis pursues an active career as a solo and ensemble performer, educator, and conductor.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the support of the D'Addario Foundation.