Mandora

The mandora or mandore refers to various types of lutes. At first, in the Renaissance, the term was applied to the treble lute^[1] and in such usage it is difficult to distinguish from the mandola, the simple lute that is the ancestor of the mandolin.^[2] Later the term was used for the gallizona or gallichon, a type of 6 or 8-course bass lute (possibly a descendant of the guiterne and/or chitarra italiana^[3]) used, mainly for basso continuo, in Germany, Austria and Bohemia particularly during the 18th and early 19th centuries^[4]. The Scottish mandora is a tenor instrument, more similar to the mandola.

Construction

The bass type, similarly to the theorbo and other baroque lutes, has a vaulted body (shell) constructed of separate ribs, a flat soundboard with either a carved rose or one which is inset into the soundhole, and a bridge (without a saddle) consisting of a wooden bar acting as a string-holder glued to the soundboard. Unique to this instrument is the neck, which is long enough to allow for ten to 12 tied gut frets. The pegbox is either straight and set at a sharp angle to the neck (much like a lute pegbox), or gently curving and set at a shallow angle, either case being fitted with laterally-inserted tuning pegs (although sometimes a flat pegboard with sagittal pegs is found). The strings were of gut (now replaced by such substitutes as nylon) and are strung either singly or, especially on Italian instruments, in double courses. However, on German-made instruments, the first course (highest in pitch) is usually single (a chanterelle) and often has its own separate raised peg rider/holder attached to the pegbox. The number of courses varies from six to eight. Open string lengths tend to be fairly long (62–72 cm) on German instruments, but shorter (55–65 cm) on late Italian ones, probably because they tended to be tuned to a higher pitch.

Luthiers who produced mandoras in the first half of the 18th century were Gregor Ferdinand Wenger in Augsburg, Jacob Goldt of Hamburg, Jacob Weiss of Salzburg, David Buchstetter of Regensburg and Mattias Greisser of Innsbruck. Italian-style instruments are represented by Martino Hell of Genoa, Enrico Ebar of Venice, David Tecchler of Rome, Antonio Scoti of Milan and, toward the end of the century, Antonio Monzino and Giuseppe Presbler of Milan.

At least 50 original instruments survive in collections around the world. Examples are found in museums in Berlin, Claremont (California), Copenhagen, Edinburgh, The Hague, Leipzig, Milan, Munich and Paris, New York and St. Petersburg. Many of these instruments are found in a more or less unaltered state, and therefore are often used as models for modern reconstructions.

Tuning

Two tunings are reported: a ‘galizona’ or ‘colachon’ is tuned A'( or ) –B'( or ) –C–D–G–c–e–a, and, under a separate heading, ‘mandora’ is given as D ( or ) –E ( or ) –F–G–c–f–a–d' (i.e. the same tuning but a 4th higher) or E–A–d–g–b–e' (identical to that of the modern guitar)

The playing technique for the mandora involves the same basic right-hand finger style as for all 18th-century lutes and, because of the tuning intervals of the upper five courses, a left-hand technique that is similar to that of the 18th-century guitar.

There are about 55 sources of mandora music in tablature, all in manuscript (none printed) and nearly all of Germanic origin. These contain solos, duets, song accompaniments, and chamber music. Few studies have appeared and very little of the music has been transcribed and published: critical editions are especially rare. Many have no composers attributed but in recent years studies of concordances are beginning to uncover music by composers such as S.L. Weiss and Johann Anton Logy. The sources do mention some composers' names; Duke Clement of Bavaria, Placidus von Camerloher, Johann Paul Schiffelholz, J.M. Zink, Andrea Mayr, Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello and others. Other composers include Georg Philipp Telemann who wrote 6 concerti for flute, gallichon and strings, J.F. Daube and Johann Albrechtsberger, whose three concertinos for ‘mandora’, ‘crembalum’ (Jew's harp) and strings have been performed and recorded.

The Scottish Mandora

A separate instrument is the Scottish mandora. Like the mandora described above it is in "lute" form, but it is a tenor instrument of five paired courses. The string length is variable, like all of the lute family, but generally in the range of 32 to 36 cm. Tuning patterns are unique, the intervals between courses being alternating fourths and fifths, for example d-g-d'-g'-d". There is a book of tunes in French tabulature from about 1620 called The Skene Mandora Book, available on microfilm as a loan to members of the Lute Society of America.

Sources

^ The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th ed, Lute 2
^ F. Jahnel and N. Clarke, The Manual of Guitar Technology, p29, The Bold Strummer Ltd.[1]
^ Renato Meucci, Da ‘chitarra italiana’ a ‘chitarrone’: una nuova interpretazione; in Enrico Radesca da Foggia e il suo tempo Atti del Convegno di studi, Foggia 7-8 Aprile 2000, pp. 30 – 57.
^ Andreas Schlegel "Die Laute in Europa" Basel 2007

External links

[1] The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th ed, Lute 2

[2] F. Jahnel and N. Clarke, The Manual of Guitar Technology, p29, The Bold Strummer Ltd.[1]

[3] Renato Meucci, Da ‘chitarra italiana’ a ‘chitarrone’: una nuova interpretazione; in Enrico Radesca da Foggia e il suo tempo Atti del Convegno di studi, Foggia 7-8 Aprile 2000, pp. 30 – 57.

[4] Andreas Schlegel "Die Laute in Europa" Basel 2007

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Construction

Tuning

The Scottish Mandora

Sources

Further Reading

External links