James Oswald on the Ohio (for mandolin quartet or ensemble)

[John Goodin]

I've just added a page to my Mandotopia website for James Oswald on the Ohio, a new piece inspired (as are so many of my tunes) by the work of the great 18th century Scottish composer.

After a recent exchange with our own Martin Jonas I found myself wanting to create a few more flexible pieces for smaller ensembles. This four part piece is cast for 3 mandolins and octave mandolin. But I was careful with the lower parts to allow for a CGDA mandola to comfortably play the 3rd mandolin part and to allow for the octave mandolin part to be covered by either mandocello or a guitar playing single notes. Of course any other combination, including bowed strings, etc. is fine with me.

You can find the score, various parts, a fanciful explanation of the title, and a modest home recording of the piece here.

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy the music.

John G.