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Thread: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718-1795): 2 pieces from Partita Terza
    1. Minuet I in C Major
    2. Minuet II in A Minor
    First published in "Raccolta delle più Nuove Composizioni di Clavicembalo di Differenti Maestri ed Autori" (1757)


    Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg was an early classical composer and prolific author of music theory books. Most of his works date from the 1740s and 1750s, after which he was appointed Head of the Prussian State Lottery and a member of Frederick the Great's war council, which occupied most of his time.

    These two minuets were originally intended for clavichord or harpsichord. My adaptation for mandolin quartet (two mandolins, GDAE mandola and mandocello) is based on an arrangement for strings by Michel Rondeau which I have found at IMSLP:

    https://imslp.org/wiki/Menuets_I_%26...drich_Wilhelm)

    I attach PDFs of the parts, in various clefs.

    I'm not sure what the piece would sound like with strings, but on mandolin it has a distinct harpsichord feel, in particular in the dramatic trills.

    1890s Umberto Ceccherini mandolin (x2)
    Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



    Martin
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Marpurg Two Minuets-Mandolin_II.pdf   Marpurg Two Minuets-Mandolin_I.pdf   Marpurg Two Minuets-Mandola (octave treble clef).pdf  

    Marpurg Two Minuets-Mandocello (octave treble clef).pdf   Marpurg Two Minuets-Mandocello (bass clef).pdf   Marpurg Two Minuets Mandola (alto clef).pdf  


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    Peace. Love. Mandolin. Gelsenbury's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Interesting pieces! I've never heard them before. Would you consider them typical of the place and time they were composed?

    I certainly agree about the harpsichord character of the music. There's something stately but also peaceful about it. Thank you for sharing these.

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Thanks, Dennis.

    I think they're fairly typical for harpsichord music of the period -- this was also the first golden age of mandolin music (Barbella, Leone etc), and you can hear the similarities as well as differences that come from writing idiomatically for the mandolin.

    I came across this because I was looking at an arrangement by Konrad Wölki of another of Marpurg's keyboard pieces (a Capriccio) and was looking on IMSLP whether they had the original. They didn't, but they did have these minuets. There is also a similar arrangement of two more minuets (in C major and C minor), also by Michel Rondeau. If I get around to it, I may record those minuets, as well as the Wölki arrangement of the Capriccio.

    Martin

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    I have now recorded the other set of Marpurg minuets at IMSLP, also arranged by Michel Rondeau:

    Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718-1795): 2 pieces from Partita 11
    1. Minuet I in C Major
    2. Minuet II in C Minor
    First published in "Raccolta delle più Nuove Composizioni di Clavicembalo di Differenti Maestri ed Autori" (1756)


    https://imslp.org/wiki/2_Menuets_(Ma...drich_Wilhelm)

    Same instrumentation as before (but a very different tune).

    1890s Umberto Ceccherini mandolin (x2)
    Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



    Martin

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    Registered User John Bertotti's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Was it hard to adapt for mandolin when coming from the harpsichord/clavichord?
    My avatar is of my OldWave Oval A

    Creativity is just doing something wierd and finding out others like it.

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Thanks, John.

    That's really a question for Michel Rondeau, who adapted the original harpsichord/clavichord score to arrangements for "string orchestra" with parts for two violins, viola, cello and double bass. These are all at IMSLP in PDF, Finale and MusicXML formats -- go to the IMSLP links above and then click on the "arrangments and transcriptions" tab. MusicXML can be imported into the free Musescore music editing software, which I've used to make my own parts. I've omitted the double bass as it's mainly an octave down from the cello.

    I now also attach my parts for the second set of minuets.

    Martin
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Marpurg Partita 11 Minuets-Mandola (octave treble clef).pdf   Marpurg Partita 11 Minuets-Mandola (alto clef).pdf   Marpurg Partita 11 Minuets-Mandocello (octave treble clef).pdf  

    Marpurg Partita 11 Minuets-Mandocello (bass clef).pdf   Marpurg Partita 11 Minuets-Mandolin_II.pdf   Marpurg Partita 11 Minuets-Mandolin_I.pdf  


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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Martin,
    Michel Rondeau--what do we know about him (or her)? A contemporary of Marpurg, or more recent? Thanks for providing more music than we can play--it's starting to pile up on my stand! I moved recently and need to find classical pickers in my new area so I can try these with a quartet, trio, duet, whatever I can find.
    Anybody out there near Salem Oregon?

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc James View Post
    Martin,
    Michel Rondeau--what do we know about him (or her)? A contemporary of Marpurg, or more recent?
    Very much more recent. Indeed, very much alive -- Michel Rondeau is one the main contributors of transcriptions and arrangements of Baroque music to IMSLP, with currently 4270 arrangements of his available for download, in addition to 211 original composition (Link). He would have typed in the engraving files I've used for my adaptation.

    Michel's profile bio is:

    "Michel David Rondeau was born in 1948 and began playing the trumpet at the age of 12 in a small fanfare in his hometown of Rockland, Ontario, 13 miles east of Ottawa, the capital of Canada. At the age of 18 he formed a dance band called The Music Mates and produced his first record. At twenty he entered the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec and studied the trumpet with Jean Louis Chatel (Montreal Symphony Orchestra). For five consecutive summers, Michel was awarded bursaries to study with great European musicians at the Mount Orford musical Camp. Of the trumpeters, the most notable were: Mr. Pierre Thibaud and Mr. Antoine Curé. In the spring of 1993, Michel worked with the British natural trumpet specialist, Mr. Crispian Steele Perkins. After completion of his studies at le Conservatoire, Michel worked with various organists and formed Brass ensembles, He privately formed his own recording label (ARCADIA) and produced another record and a series of 20 cassettes and compact discs with Montreal organists Mrs. Aline Letendre, Yves D. Préfontaine, Ottawa organists Anthony King, Thomas Annand, Corbin Eddy, Jeffrey Campbell, harpsichordist Sonja Deunsch and his quartet The Cathedral Brass. Since the completion of his studies at le Conservatoire de Musique du Québec, Michel Rondeau has performed extensively as a trumpet soloist, specializing in the music of the Baroque period. In 1979, he became the trumpet soloist at L'Église du Gesù in Montreal, where he founded L'Ensemble des Cuivres du Gesù in 1985. He is also the founder and director of The Cathedral Brass and The Cathedral Consort. In addition to being an accomplished performer, Mr. Rondeau is a prolific composer and arranger. His works are frequently heard in concert or on CBC Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Mr. Rondeau has written more than 200 works including 35 symphonies, and has transcribed and arranged over 900 pieces for various combinations of instruments, voices, choir and organ. M. Rondeau is currently retired after a thirty five year teaching career from both Québec D'Arcy Mc Gee High School (1969-2005) and le Conservatoire de Musique du Québec à Hull (1988-1997)."

    Martin

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc James View Post
    Thanks for providing more music than we can play--it's starting to pile up on my stand! I moved recently and need to find classical pickers in my new area so I can try these with a quartet, trio, duet, whatever I can find.
    Anybody out there near Salem Oregon?
    Thanks for that. The mandocello part in the first pair of Marpurg minuets is very nice, so you'l enjoy them! I don't know if you've delved into the backlog of my Baroque recordings -- currently 161 pieces:

    Baroque mandolin playlist

    Most of these pieces have links to the notation in the video descriptions or in discussion threads here on the Cafe. Trio sonatas in particular are great for small mandolin ensembles. Here are a few you may want to check out to play if you manage to get some classical pickers together for trios or quartets -- these have very nice mandocello parts (although the last three were recorded before I got my Suzuki mandocello, so I'm faking the basso parts on OM):

    Charles Avison
    Thomas Arne
    Emmanuele Barbella
    Pergolesi
    Vivaldi
    Gluck
    Sweelinck
    Carlo Arrigoni

    The Barbella and Arrigoni pieces are original mandolin music, so pass the CMSA muster, for the others you need special pleading...

    Martin

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    Default Re: Friedr. Wilh. Marpurg (1757): 2 Minuets for mandolin quartet

    If this keeps up I will have to start practicing! Thanks again.

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