Haydn's Serenade, mandolin duet (with score)

[Martin Jonas]

Roman Hoffstetter (1742-1814): "Haydn's Serenade" (Andante Cantabile from String Quartet in F major)
Attributed to Joseph Haydn, Op. 3 No. 5, Hob.III:17
Arranged for two mandolins by Joh. B. Kok

This is a famous classical string quartet movement, widely attributed to Joseph Haydn but now considered to have been written by his contemporary (and imitator) Roman Hoffstetter.

This arrangement for two mandolins is by Johan B. Kok (see attached). I'm playing it as a duet between my Ceccherini Neapolitan bowlback on melody and a Gelas-type French mandolin playing the arpeggio accompaniment.

1890s Umberto Ceccherini mandolin
René Gérôme "Gelas" mandolin



Martin

[Hany Hayek]

Thanks for posting.
How are we supposed to play the staccato notes. I know how it's done with the violin bow

[Martin Jonas]

Thanks for posting.
How are we supposed to play the staccato notes. I know how it's done with the violin bow

Those arpeggios in the second mandolin are taken from the pizzicato second violin accompaniment in the original string quartet, so no bow involved even on violin. Kok appears to have had a specific idea of how those notes should be played, as he has marked them staccato except for the four bars at the crescendo halfway through which are marked legato. I couldn't figure out what his thinking there was and I largely ignored those markings for my recording: I played the crescendo but didn't make a conscious effort to make those four bars any more legato than the rest of the second mandolin part. Legato marks on mandolin scores sometimes mean tremolo, but that makes no sense here -- I don't think you can execute those arpeggio phrases tremolo to any useful effect (or at least I can't).

As far as the staccato markings on the rest of the piece is concerned, as many of those notes are adjacent fifths -- e.g. the C and the G in the opening phrase -- I would think it means to lift your finger when crossing strings rather than stopping both strings with the same finger and keeping it down through the phrase.

Martin

[Hany Hayek]

Wouldn't the staccato mean not letting the note have it's normal sustain for it's full length (tempo).
That would mean damping the string after playing the note. Could it be something like the pizzicato (done on mandolin and classical guitar) by keeping part of your palm on the stings.

[Martin Jonas]

Wouldn't the staccato mean not letting the note have it's normal sustain for it's full length (tempo).
That would mean damping the string after playing the note. Could it be something like the pizzicato (done on mandolin and classical guitar) by keeping part of your palm on the stings.

I wouldn't think that palm muting would be necessary or effective for this piece. If you're playing a fretted note, you can damp it by simply lifting the finger. The only note where this wouldn't work for this piece is the open G string -- if the sustained G doesn't sound right, you can damp it with your left hand before fretting the next note.

Martin

[Martin Jonas]

I'm revisiting this tune six years after my earlier recording. This is a different arrangement, set for plucked instrument orchstra (bandurrias in this case) by M. Salafranca, from:

https://jidumicodi.jimdofree.com/

Unlike the simplified Johan Kok arrangement I recorded in 2016, the first mandolin here plays the full original first violin part in the original key (although I don't play the repeats). I have reduced the pizzicata accompaniment to two instruments, mandocello and second mandolin. Apologies for the blip at 0.58-1:00, where I got my fingering mixed up during the postion shift.

1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (x2)
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello


https://youtu.be/f5TWXJs3oU4

Martin