Giuseppe Manente (1867-1941): "Rêverie de poète", andante appassionato Giuseppe Manente was an Italian military band leader and composer (the score says he was "Chef de Musique de l'armee Italienne") who wrote prolifically for mandolin ensemble or orchestra, along with two operas and many pieces for other instrumentation. This particular piece for mandolin orchestra still seems to be widely performed -- there are at least 24 (!) other recordings already on Youtube. I had previously recorded this piece in 2016, as usual at the time using a click track which made the result a bit stiff compared to the live concert recordings mentioned above. I was reminded of the piece from Robert Margo's recent upload of the performance of the Providence Mandolin Orchestra for the CMSA Convention (link), which prodded me into trying it again, this time in a more "live music" way (I hope). I uploaded the score here back in 2016. My new recording is as a mandolin quintet of two mandolins, mandola (which means OM for European compositions like this one), tenor guitar and mandocello, with the guitar part adapted to suit the tenor guitar tuning. Recorded by starting with my video of the mandola part, then layering the other parts over the top of the video soundtrack. 1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (x2) Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin (mandola in G) Vintage Viaten tenor guitar Suzuki MC-815 mandocello Martin
What a lovely composition and arrangement, Martin, and I reckon this is one of your top performances. The dynamics really enhance the piece. Great job, Mr Jonas!
Lovely, full overall sound produced from the collection of mandolin family instruments (not forgetting the assistance from the Tenor Guitar)…Very nice job, Martin.
Beautiful Martin, really done! Love the rubato and crescendos.
Many thanks for the kind comments! The dynamics are the fun bit in this piece. The parts are fairly straightforward on their own but come to life when the harmonies overlap. I enjoyed getting this one updated -- the previous recording wasn't quite right. Martin
Very well played and recorded, Martin. I like the fact. that the mandola plays the melody.
Thanks, Christian! As I now record without click track, the first instrument I record needs to play through the entire piece and must be suitable for solo playing. In this piece, the mandola was the only choice: it plays the solo instroduction and then a harmony/supporting melody thereafter. My OM also has a pretty wide range of volume, which is a good basis for building up the dynamics on this piece. Martin
