I've always loved this wistful little tune, so here it is for our beloved instrument.
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I've always loved this wistful little tune, so here it is for our beloved instrument.
Oops! Please mentally correct my typo in the thread's title to "Massenet" (or perhaps a moderator can literally correct it).
I should always give myself a day to play through these things before posting. I made some of the accompaniment voicings more reflective of practical reality, added some guitar fingering, and pretty substantially edited the mandolin part. I felt popping up an octave when I originally had essentially gave the impression of a premature climax where the mood should still be subdued. I instead opted to double in octaves to realize the piece's actual climax. I also eliminated or narrowed some rests in the melody since a mandolin doesn't need to breathe between sentences like a singer might. I like this incarnation better.
I set up a little portable Zoom recorder during last night's rehearsal. I was playing my ca. 1914 Vega "Gregorio Scalzo" artist model and Sheri her fine guitar by Kolya Panhuyzen: Massenet's Elegie, op.10, no.5
Great stuff, Eugene, all of it! I particularly liked your Calace Tarantella. And the Barbella— turns out I was playing it just a couple of days ago with about six players, in an arrangement that had the lower instruments provide the continuo part. Good piece, and it's nice to hear a really solid performance of it.
I enjoyed the Sor pieces as well; what is that guitar you're using? It looks a little like a Panormo I had long ago.
Thanks for posting these, and I hope we'll be hearing more of you!
I truly enjoyed this! Fantastic. I appreciate you sharing. This is my first exposure to the tune; how did you find it originally? Also, what kind of mandolin and pick are you using? (Just listened to your version of the Calace Tarentella and my two year old and I danced to it! haha)
Sincerest thanks, Bruce and Deep. I appreciate your kind words.
That's a guitar built for me by local builder Gary Demos and loosely based on Huerta's (1800–1874) 1829 original Panormo with early asymmetric fan bracing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Clausen
My grandmother was a classical-music nerd, and my own nerdom grew out of that early influence. She had a hodgepodge LP of diverse performers, ensembles, etc. called something like "Nocturne," "Night Music," or similar. The first I remember hearing Massenet's Elegie as a teen was in an orchestral arrangement of the piece on that old LP. The next time I met the tune was as a souped-up, improvised stride-piano arrangement by Art Tatum (anglicized as "Elegy"). As I continued to explore, I discovered a number of arrangements that add an extra minute by contrasting diverse instrumental ensembles against a singer. I'm not about to sing and so opted to arrange the short version for voice and piano published as op.10, no.5.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandolin Deep Cuts
On Massenet's Elegie, I used a ca. 1914 Vega "Gregorio Scalzo" artist model, a rather rare Neapolitan-type beast with a 29-fret fingerboard. I like the old Neapolitan profile in plectra, and was using Galli "Heavy" (1.00-mm) celluloid here. My older recordings of Calace and Barbella were using a 1908 one-of-a-kind Martin (I expended a fair amount of effort trying to ID it in the early 2000s; the old production logs held in the Martin Museum describe it only as "42 ribs; maple joints; side guard"), also a Neapolitan-type bowlback. Back then (when I recorded Calace and Barbella), I was buying large-triangle picks in 0.8-mm Ultem (polyetherimide: a very hard, relatively long-lived plastic), roughly cutting them to the classic Neapolitan profile with heavy shears, and refining the shape and buffing with files and cosmetic fingernail buffers. (I like Ultem better than softer and short-lived celluloid, but I only have so much time in a day.) Both mandolins are/were strung with Dogal's "Calace" brand carbon steel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandolin Deep Cuts
PS: When I shared the direct link to the Elegie, I didn't realize that Soundcloud would automatically play through all my few uploaded tracks in sequence. Whatevs . . . Sorry for the greater-than-intended aural assault.