Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680): Modo hypodorico
Athanasius Kircher was one of the most famous scholars of the 17th century, and is sometimes called "The last man who knew everything". He was a philosopher, a scientist, a mathematician, an inventor, a writer, a gifted artist and a Jesuit priest. However, this is the only composition of his listed at IMSLP:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Modo_Hypodori...2C_Athanasius)
IMSLP doesn't say, but I presume the piece comes from his comprehensive 1650 book on music theory, the "Musurgia Universalis", which was a big influence on Bach and Beethoven. I don't know the original instrumentation -- the IMSLP setting is for organ and I would expect Kircher wrote it for a treble instrument with a ground bass. "Modo hypodorico" or "Hypodorian mode" is one of the eight modes of Gregorian chant. The piece consist of a theme and nine variations, one of them in the bass and one chordal.
I decided to look up the piece when I came across a recording by the early music group L'Arpeggiata (link), who play it as a tarantella -- I'm not sure that was Kircher's intention, but it is certainly rousing. A possibly more authentic recording (at least closer to the IMSLP score) is by Ensemble Zeitgeist (Link).
My arrangement for mandolin quartet (two mandolins, mandocello, tenor guitar) is a bit more relaxed than these, not least because I would lose my pick if I try to strum the guitar like that...
1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello
Vintage Viaten tenor guitar
Martin
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