Pop italiano ed internazionale
The mandolin has a very long classical tradition throughout Europe from the 1700s to the present day: the Italian music culture boasts the undisputed merit of having contributed like no other to the constant revaluation of the Mandolin and the compositions dedicated to it.
The Mandolin, which had its first heyday during the Baroque period, is finally experiencing a grandiose comeback in the present time.
The origins of the Mandolin in Italy date back to the 1600s. It belongs to the lute family from which it takes its oval shape, the bulging shell and the double strings.
The origin of the name is questioned and it seems that the word “Mandolin” or “Mandorlino” or “Amandorlino” (as it was also called in the 1700s) comes from “little mandola” or from the fact that the shape of this instrument is similar to that of an almond (in Italian almond=mandorla).
In the 1700s in some regions of Northern Italy (especially in Venice) it was also called “Liuto Soprano” (soprano lute) because this instrument was like a small lute playing in a higher register.
In the Baroque period in Italy there were different types of Mandolin in construction or according to the geographical origin among which stand out:
– The Milanese Mandolin also known as the Soprano Lute
– The Mandolin of Brescia
– The Genoese Mandolin
– The Neapolitan Baroque Mandolin, which with its shape and tuning has established itself over the centuries to the present day, and whose direct evolution is the current modern Neapolitan mandolin.
From the end of the 1800s other types of Mandolin were made in Northern Europe and America:
– The German mandolin
– The flat mandolins typical of Irish folk music
– In the USA, the country mandolin.
In the 1700s, the Mandolin was a much loved instrument and was present in the homes of noblemen where many of the concerts of the time took place. For this reason, as we said, many composers of the time wrote excellent pages of music for the mandolin.
The success enjoyed by the Mandolin over the centuries lies in the fact that from the 1700s to the present day many Italian and European composers have dedicated pages of music to this instrument: Among the most famous are Antonio Vivaldi, Domenico Scarlatti, Giovanni Paisiello, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Hoffmann, Joan Nepomuk Hummel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nicoló Paganini, Raffaele Calace, who composed numerous Concertos and Sonatas for the Mandolin. Mozart, Verdi, Prokofjev and Mahler also included it in the orchestral ensemble of some of their Works and Symphonies.
Luca Artioli Mandolin Ensemble with its soloists embark on a fascinating journey through Italy: his repertoire includes venetian Baroque Concertos and classical Sonatas as well as new and unpublished compositions for Mandolin, Strings and Classical Guitar written by Luca Artioli explicitly for this Ensemble: the “SINFONIA DEL LAGO”, the “STAGIONI del LAGO”, the “SUITE MEDITERRANEA” and the “RAPSODIA NAPOLETANA”.
Other Classical Ensembles
Opera Italiana
Sinfonia Italiana
Duo Italiano
Luca artioli Guitar solo
