Oswald (1710-1769) began publishing his series in 1755. Each Air was printed on a single page with the melody on one staff and a bass line (with figures) on a second staff.
Each piece was named after a plant and the Airs were organized into groups of twelve for each season, forty-eight in all. For whatever reason, Oswald repeated this process a couple of years later with all new music and all new plant titles, resulting in a total of ninety-six Airs.
Each individual Air included from two to four separate movements in different time signatures and tempos, almost always in the same key. The result is a cornucopia of beautiful melodies, many of which sound complete even without their figured bass parts, and are well-suited for playing as solos on the modern mandolin.
This book chose twenty-four of these Airs, six from each season of the year, arranged for solo mandolin. In most cases the key has been changed to make them more accessible to intermediate players and, in a few cases, notes have been added from bass parts to suit the author's taste.
While these Airs were probably intended primarily for players of the violin and flute they are suitable for mandolin in these arrangements.
Selections
Spring
- The Auricula
- The Frier’s Cowl
- The Lilac
- The Pyracantha
- The Rocket
- The Junquill
Summer
- The Batchelor’s Button
- The Heliotrope
- The Lark-Spur
- The Oleander
- The Sweet William
- The Corn Flag
Autumn
- The Amaranthus
- The Ambrosia
- The Candy=Tuft
- The Jasmine
- The Oriental Mallow
- The Scabious
Winter
- The Almond
- The Arbutus
- The Box
- The Golden Rod
- The Holly
- The Phillyrea
Additional Information
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