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You are very welcome, Jim. This isn't what anyone would consider a "difficult" piece to play and of course there's plenty of leeway in tempo, articulations, the breaking of all those chords. Ideally,...

Dear mandolinist friends around the world,

what a year this has been! Looking back at the time that has elapsed since last spring, it may at first seem interminable. To put this ordeal in some...

Always happy to share. :)

I neglected to mention that the score of this composition, like all my works for unaccompanied mandolin, is readily available as a free download from the site of our venerable James Garber of...

Thank you, John. Very kind of you.

Alex does a brilliant job of this little piece; most of the credit goes to him.

Cheers,

Victor

Dear mando-kin around the world,

I hope that you and yours are all well despite these dreadful times that we are traversing. "This too shall come to pass" never sounded more optimistic; we must...

I have no acquaintance with the family that owns these instruments but, from the granddaughter's account of her grandmother, I do get a sense of a life of luxury and leisure. On that account, she...

Apparently these creatures fall under the mandolino da weirdo subcategory in the taxonomy of plucked instruments. :))

For the sake of full disclosure, I heard of these through an equally weird...

Thank you, both. I have asked my conduit to get us more info, mostly images; we cannot expect much verbal explanation from someone who admits to knowing nothing to begin with. ;) Let's see what comes...

Strange beasts indeed, Jim. :confused: They do seem to have a few frets but, as you say, it's hard to tell whether they are fixed frets— making them "Western" instruments for lack of a better word—...

Greetings, all.

This truly goes under "asking for a friend". ;) I have neither direct acquaintance with the owner of these instruments nor any business interest in them. My only understanding is...

Got mongrel alright, not much technique. :))

I play primarily a modern Calace. Yes, I own a lovely Embergher but I have never gotten totally comfortable on an arched fingerboard; my padded,...

No need to kill off those poor tortoises. The synthetic materials that Jim and others have experimented with are just fine IMHO— always with some variance for taste, needless to say. All my Ranieri...

What fond memories! Ralf's home in Antwerp is a veritable museum. Down the street there's even a restaurant appropriately called The Seventh Heaven... :)

Ah, yes... that lucid, crystalline tone is what makes Emberghers the gems they are. :mandosmiley:

Alex had first chosen to post his performance on the mandoliola but, despite his usual modesty, I prevailed upon him to also post his reading of this score on the mandolin, a performance that I...

Thanks, Rob! Alex sure plays this little piece like an angel. :)

This piece was played by all those countless youngsters who competed at Bergamo and I sure hope it wasn't worse for the wear...

Dear mandolinist friends around the world,

I hope you and yours are staying healthy and happy during these difficult times. The consolations of music have never been more precious or more sorely...

Hello, old friend. :) Glad you enjoyed it. If consensus is Elgar, Elgar it is. ;) I do admire his music and its fabled, expansive "Englishness"— whatever that means.

Yes, arrangement is...

Hello again, Mike.

I just zapped you an email with the score and parts attached as PDF files. I hope you enjoy playing through it, whenever that becomes possible. :)

Cheers,

Victor

Thanks, Mike. Perhaps the only silver lining of these strange times we're living through is that music is always at hand: the charming mandolin, some sheet music, the warmth and coziness of home... :)

Music, like life in general, is a journey; not all of us start from the same point of departure, nor travel the same route, nor arrive at the same place. And that, as my first composition teacher...

Thank you very much for your kind words, Xavier. I am always happy to hear that my little solo mandolin pieces are enjoyed far and wide. That's what they're for, after all. :mandosmiley:

In a...

Thanks, Jim. Very kind of you, as always.

This is a classic case of how poor composers' predictive skills are. :)) Such an itsy-bitsy little piece, sooooooo much mileage! :mandosmiley: This has...

Thanks, Jim! I also noticed that performance via the constant and often jumbled stream of social media. I am always amazed at how far some of my "babies" have walked over the years. :) Sometimes I...