Re: Italian popular mandolin
Interesting so many Italian connections here! I have also spent time there, and will be in Padua most of this summer. Hope to connect with some of you over there!
Carlo Aonzo has a new book on northern Italian and Ticino (southern Switzerland) mandolin styles. There's also a Mel Bay book by John LaBarbera on southern Italian styles. It's helpful to remember that before 1860-65, there was no unified Italy -- just a bunch of regions with a long history of conquering and being conquered. Northern Italy in particular shows a pan-European influence, having been conquered at various times by the Austrians, French, Germans, and of course, Rome. So there are regional mandolin traditions in many parts of Italy, although like in the US, the public doesn't recognize or know them. Say "mandolin" and most Italians think of Neapolitan folk songs.
The big divide, I think, is between these regional folk traditions on the one hand, and the concert music tradition on the other. Ugo Orlandi (Carlo Aonzo's teacher) is the patriarch of classical mandolin in northern Italy, having devoted his career to furthering appreciation of the classical mandolin tradition, which was particularly strong in baroque and romantic eras. There's much information on the Federmandolino.it website, although I don't think there's any English there. The reference books that explain are "The Early Mandolin" by James Tyler and Paul Sparks and "The Classical Mandolin" by Paul Sparks.
Exploring Classical Mandolin (Berklee Press, 2015)
Progressive Melodies for Mandocello (KDP, 2019) (2nd ed. 2022)
New Solos for Classical Mandolin (Hal Leonard Press, 2020)
2021 guest artist, mandocello: Classical Mandolin Society of America
Bookmarks