COMING SOON

Short history:
the ensembles from trio to plectrum orchestra

L'origine del trio a plettro va ricercata nel diffondersi dell'interesse alla composizione, nel periodo barocco, di sonate a 2 mandolini e basso (che si potevano eseguire sia con violoncello, viola da gamba, cembalo, organo, ecc... nel ruolo del basso, oppure con uno strumento a plettro di registro grave, in grado di ben interpretare il ruolo di basso, come il mandoloncello); oltre a questa formazione, poteva essere composto da altre varie combinazioni: 2 mandolini, mandola tenore; 2 mandolini e chitarra; mandolino, mandola tenore e chitarra.

Il diffondersi della musica da camera del XIX secolo, ha dato origine ad ulteriori sviluppi, allargamenti, unioni dei due ensemble che hanno fatto un po' da genesi della musica d'insieme a pizzico (ossia il duo mandolino-chitarra e il trio 2 mandolini e basso), come il quartetto ed il quintetto a plettro.
Il quartetto a plettro esiste in due versioni: classico (2 mandolini, mandola tenore e mandoloncello oppure 2 mandolini, mandola contralto e mandoloncello); romantico (2 mandolini, mandola tenore e chitarra); il quintetto a plettro è formato da 2 mandolini, mandola tenore, mandoloncello e chitarra.

The modern plectrum orchestra is a plucked instruments ensemble with a double bass. It's composed by: mandolins, divided in firsts and seconds, tenor mandolas, mandocellos, guitars and double bass. Mandocello may have an independent part or may double the bass.
It derives from a formation genre that was born in Italy after the Unification and contributed in a determinant way to spread musical culture to all social classes, also the less elevated ranks. In origin, the repertory was mainly composed by transcriptions of opera and symphonic pieces and by rare examples of original music expressly written for this kind of organic but however inspired by opera’s repertory. The plectrum orchestra in those days was formed by a lot of different typologies of plucked instruments: lombard and neapolitan mandolins, tenor and alto mandolas, mandocellos, mandoloni and mandolbassi, double basses, guitars, harps, sometimes harpsichord and percussion. At the end of ‘800, the first national and international Plectrum Orchestra competitions were organised, with incentives from musical reviews that had a big diffusion. In Italy, between the end of ‘800 and the first half of ‘900, about ten periodicals dedicated to mandolin were published. In almost all Italian cities, mainly in the most important ones, and in the main European cities there were many mandolin’s clubs or “circoli” of all kinds: from the aristocratic ones to free time societies. From the end of the ‘60es Germany became the central pole of diffusion of plectrum instruments music and of the original repertory research. Some German authors began to write original music for plectrum orchestra (Gal, Wolki, Ambrosius and Beherend were the most important) leaving the romantic and popular music’s old themes and styles, searching new sounds and new composition stimulus’s in plectrum orchestra. This way of thinking was successively diffused also in whole Europe and actually the original repertory is heritage of many active plucked organics.

clic to enlarge