To mix the repertoire up a bit, here are two German romantic Lieder by Robert Schumann: one of his best-known compositions, "Abendlied" (Evening Song) and a relatively obscure one, "Liebesgarten" (Garden of Love, aka "Die Liebe ist ein Rosenstrauch"). They were originally written for solo or duo vocalists with piano accompaniment. These arrangements for mandolin quintet are by Vicenzo Billi (1868-1938), a reasonably prominent Italian composer. Instruments for both songs: Mandolin 1: 1890s Umberto Ceccherini bowlback Mandolin 2: 1915 Luigi Embergher bowlback Mandola: 1925 Zimmermann waldzither Mandocello: Mid-Missouri M-111 Guitar: Ozark tenor guitar Liebesgarten: [MP3=1]http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111790&d=1388580953[/MP3] Abendlied: [MP3=2]http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111791&d=1388581035[/MP3] Martin
Beautiful, Martin. I am amazed at how well you keep the timing of the different parts together. Do you use headphones?
Thanks, Maudlin. Yes, I use headphones and also a click track -- it's the only way to keep these multi-part classical arrangements in time when laying them down track by track. As long as they're in time with the click track they're also in time with each other. Practicing to a click track is also a great way of improving timing generally. As these classical pieces are somewhat off-topic here in the SAW group, I'm adding another romantic-era piece I recorded yesterday here rather than starting a new topic: Barcarolle, from the opera "Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath" (1826) by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826). This is a well-known piece of incidental music from the opera "Oberon" by the German Romantic composer Carl Maria von Weber. This duet arrangement for two mandolins is from the 1920s - probably first in the BMG Magazine - and was reprinted in 1975 in the collection "A Variety Of Mandolin Music", with an introduction from (and possibly edited by) Hugo d'Alton. For my recording, I have doubled the second mandolin part an octave lower on tenor guitar. It's a very simple (and easy) piece of music, but very evocative and I think the arrangement is quite effective. With only two instrumental parts, the arrangement is less busy than the Schumann songs and it's therefore easier to hear exactly what's going on. Mandolin 1: Ceccherini bowlback Mandolin 2: Embergher bowlback Guitar: Ozark tenor guitar [MP3=3]http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=111888&d=1388714502[/MP3] Martin
