Mandolin orchestra

A Plucked or mandolin orchestra is an orchestra consisting of mandolins and other fretted instrument.

Occupation

The usual occupation of a Zupforchesters is:

All instrument groups are multiply occupied, the bass often is an exception. The bass can also be entirely absent, then the vote is taken over by an acoustic or electric bass guitar.

In the pictures of a typical seating arrangements Zupforchesters are shown. More recently, however, other seating arrangements are observed, for example, in the performance of surround sound compositions.

History

Renaissance and early Baroque

Michael Praetorius Syntagma Musicum describes in his 1619 According to a chorus that is occupied not only the old plucked instruments such as the theorbo and lute with harpsichords and spinets. To enhance the bass, he recommends a bass fiddle. He reports on the monitoring of a motet by such an ensemble, "Which give a splendidly - prechtigen / beautiful Resonantz of himself / ie / it has almost everything wrinkled in the churches because of the sound of the very many strings ".

20th century

In Germany played until the second half of the 20th century, mainly musical amateurs in Zupforchestern. Many of plucked instruments were developed in the 1920s from the workers or migratory birds move out. Since the 1950s, the composer Konrad Wölki was instrumental in the musicological recognition of Zupforchester.

Compositions for mandolin orchestra

In addition to works by Konrad Wölki works of Kurt Schwaen, Klaus Wüsthoff, Claudio Mando Nico Yasuo Kuwahara and are often performed at classical concerts of Zupforchestern. From many works for orchestra other species, there are arrangements for mandolin orchestra; Works for string orchestra or string quartet can often be adopted without editing.

Organization of the German Plucked

In Germany it is with most orchestras to club orchestra. Moreover, there is in the individual federal states Landeszupforchester, the music on a high musical level, as well as Landesjugendzupforchester. Most German Plucked are members of an umbrella organization, the Association of German Zupfmusiker.

Ermanno Briner writes in Reclams musical instrument leader ( Reclam - Verlag 1998, ISBN 3- 15-010436 -X) critical of the role of Zupforchestervereine:

" Apart from the fact that the taste has become a bit more sophisticated in general today and you also prefer to listen to the radio, instead of taking the trouble to make music himself, apart also from the in the long run for today's ears hard to bear chirping and tremolo a (often also slightly detuned ) Mandolin orchestra came earlier, in the dominated not by airwaves times, the mandolin orchestra, such as the brass band, an eminent cultural significance: allowed it but the promotion of instrumental playing and tapping into remote communities for the music. "