ISBN 9781609742959. Most of the music in this book comes from editions or manuscripts from England in the late 1500ICOs. There are also a few French pieces. The cittern was popular in Italy, England and France. Aside from various tunings, there were two main kinds of instruments being played during the 16th and 17th centuries: the 4 course (four sets of doubled strings), and the 6 course cittern with several editions of music to go along with both. The pieces I have chosen for this book were all written for the 4 course instrument and fall into three main categories: dance music, song arrangements and free pieces. The free pieces are basically preludes that explore the melodic range of the instrument. As the title suggests these pieces can be played very freely and need not have a very strict tempo. The dance pieces are not really meant to be danced to, but rather take their form and rhythm from the popular court dances of the time. These can be played with a wide range of overall tempo, but once a tempo is chosen, should be strictly adhered to. The song arrangements are settings of popular songs of the time as well as more formal vocal settings. Care should be taken in making the melody clear and singing. Since the range of the cittern and mandolin are the same, John Holenko has kept the melodies intact. Because of the difference in tuning however, the voicing of the harmonies have been changed so as to fit on the mandolin.

ISBN 9781619111721. Telemann for Mandolin presents over 70 pieces composed by Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) that are particularly suitable for playing on unaccompanied mandolin. The pieces are easy to intermediate in difficulty and are presented both in standard notation and tablature. The book includes excellent material for students as well as many pieces suitable for weddings, recitals and other occasions.

N� � Hamburg en 1699, Johann Adolf Hasse, surnomm� � il Sassone � �tudie aupr�s de son p�re, organiste de Bergedorf, puis � Naples aupr�s de Porpora et se lie d?amiti� avec Alessandro Scarlatti, Farinelli, Galuppi, Jommelli, Haydn et m�me Jean Sebastien Bach, qu?il rencontre en 1731. D�s son premier op�ra, Antigonus, Hasse connait le succ�s et commence alors une carri�re de compositeur, musicien et chef d?orchestre qui le fera voyager dans toute l?Europe avant de s?installer � Venise. Auteur de 58 op�ras, oratorios, cantates, concertos et sonates en toute genre, la quasi totalit� de son ?uvre est d�truite par l?incendie du si�ge de Dresde par les Prussiens en 1760. Malgr� la stabilit� de ses principaux traits, le style de Hasse, nettement pr�classique, connait de l�g�res �volutions au cours de sa carri�re mais il reste un compositeur au go�t prononc� pour le lyrisme, y compris dans son �criture instrumentale, comme le d�montre le largo de son Concerto in sol Maggiore per Mandolino e cordi. De facture Vivaldienne, cette oeuvre date tr�s certainement de la p�riode napolitaine de Hasse et il y d�veloppe une �criture fluide et virtuose pour le petit luth, alors tr�s en vogue dans les cours et les salons princiers de ce XVIIIe si�cle florissant. Le choix de la tonalit�, le discours rythmique et l?orchestration l�g�re, constitue la preuve que le compositeur connaissait parfaitement les possibilit�s de la mandoline pour lequel il a sans doute compos� d?autres oeuvres, malheureusement disparues aujourd?hui. Born in Hamburg in 1699, Johann Adolf Hasse, nicknamed "il Sassone", studied with his father, organist from Bergedorf, then in Naples with Porpora and became friends with Alessandro Scarlatti, Farinelli, Galuppi, Jommelli, Haydn and even Jean Sebastian Bach, whom he met in 1731. From his first opera, Antigonus, Hasse enjoyed success and began a career as a composer, musician and conductor which would take him throughout Europe before settling in Venice. Author of 58 operas, oratorios, cantatas, concertos and sonatas of all kinds, almost all of his work was destroyed by the fire of the siege of Dresden by the Prussians in 1760. Despite the stability of its main features, Hasse's style, clearly preclassical, underwent slight evolutions during his career but he remained a composer with a pronounced taste for lyricism, including in his instrumental writing, as demonstrated by the largo of his Concerto in sol Maggiore per Mandolino e cordi. Vivaldian in style, this work most certainly dates from Hasse's Neapolitan period and he developed a fluid and virtuoso writing for the small lute, then very fashionable in the courts and princely salons of this flourishing 18th century. The choice of tonality, the rhythmic discourse and the light orchestration constitute proof that the composer perfectly knew the possibilities of the mandolin for which he undoubtedly composed other works, unfortunately lost today.

ISBN 9781619118416.

Between 1755 and 1761 James Oswald composed and published two sets of 48 Airs for the Seasons, 96 pieces in all. Each air included from two to four separate movements in different time signatures and tempos, almost always in the same key. Each was printed on a single page with the melody on one staff and a bass line (with figures) on a second staff. Additionally, each piece was named after a plant and organized into groups of twelve for each season. This book contains a selection of 24 Oswald airs, 6 for each season, in standard notation and arranged for solo mandolin. Originally intended for the flute or violin, in most cases the original key has been changed to better accommodate the modern mandolin. Oswaldas Scottish heritage is evident in the number of movements that are actually slow airs, jigs, reels or menuets. Altogether, this is a delightful collection of 18th century melodies suitable for solo performance, teaching or private enjoyment.

ISBN 9781619119512.

The octave mandolin is valued for its rich tone and wide range of potential use in a variety of musical settings. This book contains 27 easy to intermediate pieces from the Baroque era that have been carefully chosen and arranged to benefit from the longer scale and deeper voice of the big mandolin. The music is presented in both standard notation and tablature, making it easily playable on the mandocello, mandola or standard mandolin. Thirteen composers are represented, including six pieces by J. S. Bach, four by G. F. Handel and three by G. P. Telemann.

Caprice No. 4 for Mandolin (mandolin solo) MO158

Mandolin Solo

Music by Mark O?Connor

5 pages - 3:00 minutes in length



From the Thirty-Year Retrospective album notes; ?I began to choose and arrange some of the best tunes of my 30-year recording career. As I worked, it all came flooding back. The places, the people, the feelings. Tunes from my childhood... ?Pickin? in the Wind,? the first tune I ever wrote...material from my Rounder and early Warner Bros. recordings...The Championship Years, New Nashville Cats, Heroes, Strength in Numbers, the Appalachia projects for Sony Classical. It was all there. A musical biography...started out as a retrospective of my career, during the process it became more. As I listen now, I realize that these recordings stand as a testament to the living, breathing, ever-evolving heritage of American music. As I watch these and other young players rise, I know it couldn?t be in better hands.?

ISBN 9781619117792.

While one of a kind is a hard rating to achieve at Mel Bay Publications, Kevin Allison has done it with The Ceilidh Dance Book. A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish gathering where people share songs, stories, music, and dancing that is very much alive today. In Scotland, there are hundreds of ceilidh bands, each of which has their own trademark tune sets, making it possible for a man in a kilt to make a living as a performing musician. This book not only provides 85 Scottish tunes in sets as they might be used in a ceilidh eventait also offers detailed, beat-by-beat descriptions of the dance steps for twenty-four dances! From The Highland Scottish to The Mooncoin Jig, with this book in hand, youall be able to both play in the band and step to the music with the locals. The kilt is optional. Arranged for mandolin or fiddle with suggested chord backup, in standard notation only.