duet with a cello

[wannabethile]

i met a guy at my church who is fantastic at the cello, and he said that he would be interested in doing a duet with me on the mando. #im very excited, cuz id like to get into more classical music with the mando. #what do you reccomend in duets with a cello, if you know of any? #even if its not classical, please post it on here for me. #thanks!

[Plamen Ivanov]

Hello wannabe,

The first thing, that crosses my mind is the Boccherini`s piece, that is used in the Soundtrack of "Master and Commander". Try it, it`s great fun!

Good luck!

[Eugene]

There are absolute reams of baroque-/rococo-era pieces for mandolino/mandolin and basso continuo (a flexible bass-voice-based accompaniment ensmble that usually included cello). I think many would work just fine in realizing the continuo on cello alone (i.e. as duets for mandolin and cello). Have a look at the Mutopia Project (http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Instrument=Mandolin). Those pieces listed for "mandolin and bass" were really intended for mandolin and basso continuo. Be mindful of typos; there are a few.

[Bob A]

Plami beat me to it. Boccherini wrote for a quintet, but I'd agree that the meat of the piece could be done by two. I always feel the scoring was done to accomodate a bunch of his pals, and can see them knocking back some wine and tapas as they get together for a musical evening, in the old pre-recorded days.

[Eugene]

Boccherini also wrote a great deal for two cellos that could probably be adapted very successfully for mandolin-cello duo.

[barbaram]

Is a Mandola/Cello work any use?

Dr Eric Gross wrote Michael's Meanderings for Mandola and V'cello in 1995. Dr Gross, Emeritus Prof at Sydney University, has written extensively for Mandolin.

See more details at
http://www.sydneymandolins.com

Regular message board readers might remember the contributions from mandolin virtuoso Michael Hooper. The above work was written especially for Michael but in this case his role was as the celloist!

A recording of the work is found on the CD
AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE JADE 1068

[Neil Gladd]

Ther are two pieces available from Plucked String Editions (http://www.mandolincafe.com/strings/) that can be performed with mandolin and cello: the Carlo Arrigoni Sonata in D (which comes with a cello part) and the Brian Israel Surrealistic Serenade. #The Israel piece was written for mandolin (or other treble instrument) and euphonium (or other bass instrument). #It's a short, fun little 12-tone piece, and I have performed it most often with cello. #Tim Ware also wrote a Duet for Mandolin and Cello, which you can download free (http://64.224.244.172/pdf/Duet.pdf) from his site.

The Bach Two-Part Inventions would also work great, right off the original keyboard score.

[Eugene]

Hey, I love stuff by that Arrigoni feller!