Driftless for mandolin orchestra - score and parts available

[John Goodin]

In the spring of 2016 I was very honored when Carlo Aonzo asked me to compose a piece to be studied and premiered at the 2017 Carlo Aonzo Workshop, held from June 1-4, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Driftless is the result of that commission.

In the end I was unable to attend the Workshop but a fine video was made of the world premiere performance (https://youtu.be/MXPBTX9IV20).

It turns out that I will also be unable to attend CMSA 2017 in Milwaukee so I am making the score and parts of Driftless freely available on my Mandotopia site prior to that gathering. Here's the direct link to the Driftless page:

http://www.mandotopia.com/Driftless.html

I hope some Cafe readers will take a look and see if it might be a good fit for their home orchestras.

From the Iowa Driftless region,

John G.

[Jim Garber]

Beautiful piece of music, John! I recognize a few of the players from my many years in previous Carlo Aonzo workshops.

[Bill Clements]

Thanks for sharing your music and this performance, John!
Just curious about the process of writing a comission piece. Did Carlo give you parameters, such as level of difficulty or a theme of some sort for this composition?

Hope all is well,
Bill

[agirlandheryarn]

This song (your song?) is being played by the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra. I've been learning it. Nice piece of music!

Lori

[BluesPreacher]

That's beautiful, John!

[John Goodin]

Preacher, thanks for the compliment!

Lori, I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying working on my piece with the LMO. That's my home orchestra and I'm very pleased that they are learning it. I was a founding member back in the late 1980s and I wrote my first mandolin orchestra pieces because Jim Bates and the LMO members encouraged me. It's a great group to be a part of.

Bill, I believe in this case Carlo and I discussed what kind of piece might work best for the Workshop. He's heard a few of my things and has even played one or two at other events.

I suggested that he look at and/or listen to a couple of the pieces I have available on my website or that you can find on youtube and he came back with an idea. We also agreed that a shorter piece (3-5 minutes) would be more useful than a longer 10-12 minute multi-part piece.

I've never attended this Workshop but I know a lot of people who have. So I knew that the level of musicianship would be high but that they are also very welcoming to less experienced players. I always try and give each section in the orchestra some interesting stuff to do and I think this piece worked out well in that regard.

I hope that answers your questions. Thanks again for your comments.

John G.

[Louise NM]

It's a lovely piece, and makes me wish there was a mandolin orchestra in my part of the world.

Seeing as it was written in one of the most beautiful areas in the US, Winneshiek County, no surprise the music is so lovely.