LanarkshireGUITAR & MANDOLINAssociationNewsletter Issue 5: Autumn 2007LGMA is a recognised Scottish Charity No. SC 032550

In this Issue…

Classes and Activities

Da Capo Alba CD Recording

NEW: Celtic Corner

Mandolin History Pt 3: 1860 - Early 20th Century

Guitar History Pt 1:The Vihuela

Youth Profile

Mango Residential Weekend

LGMA Concert Reviews

What’s On?

Graeme Scott Review

NEW: Rock and Pop Guitar Repertoire

And more inside…

LGMA Membership for 2007 is available. Download a form from

www.mandolinscotland.orgor email

membership@mandolinscotland.organd have your newsletter

delivered to your door.

The BMG RallyIn Scotland!

29th February – 2nd March 2008

Join us for a great weekend of workshops, concerts and competitions.

Log onto www.banjomandolinguitar.co.uk or

www.mandolinscotland.orgfor more information

For further details of LGMA, BMG or EGMA events and activitiesplease contact our development officer (Ian)

Lanarkshire Guitar and Mandolin Association, 1 Fraser Crescent, HamiltonTelephone: 01698 457518

Email: secretary@mandolinscotland.orgWeb: www.mandolinscotland.org

Membership

To receive a copy of this newsletter by post every quarter and receive discounts from music shops and on many LGMA events, become a member of the LGMA. Membership is by an

annual subscription of £10.

Joining is simple; just download a membership form from www.mandolinscotland.org.

It is free to keep up to date with LGMA news and events. Join our mailing list by emailing:membership@mandolinscotland.org.

Young LGMA members raise £400 for child cancer charity!CLIC Sargent is the UK's leading children's cancer charity. It provides the widest range of services and the highest number of care professionals to look after children and young people with cancer and their families. As an advocate, it gives children, young people and their families a strong national voice, helping them to be heard and understood. Through research it looks at ways of improving treatment and managing side-effects, to help patients and to improve quality of life for survivors.

This year the LGMA is very proud that some of its young people joined over 65,000 children nationally, making music during Practice-a-thon. In its fourth year, CLIC Sargent is looking to raise £160,000 for children with cancer. Practice-a-thon is a fantastic way of encouraging more children to become involved in music and also a great way for musicians to prepare for exams, a performance or for a competition or simply to improve.

See inside for more about our young stars.

Above: Members of Mango.They include some of the young people who took

part to raise money for CLIC Sargent.

Have a browse through this selection and see what takes your fancy!

If you know of concerts that you would like to see listed here, please contact newsletter@mandolinscotland.org for a free listing. Whether it is a concert you are organising, or a concert you think others would be interested in, let us know!

Dundee’s Festival of Traditional Music, Fest ‘n’ Furious, is running between 28th September and 1st October. Below we highlight some of the many events that are on, and further details of these and more events can be found on www.festnfurious.co.ukRed Hot Chili Pipers and Young Trad Tour 2007

Caird Hall Fri 28th September8pm

£17.50/£15 Box Office01382 434940

Come and Try Traditional Music Caird Hall Complex Sat 29th September10am/2pm

FREE Emily Dewhurst01382 432473

Ailie Robertson Harp Workshop Whighton Hheritage Centre

Sat 29th September2pm

£3 Emily Dewhurst01382 432473

Rob Mackillop Guitar Workshop Caird Hall Complex Sat 29th September2.30pm

£3 Emily Dewhurst01382 432473

Peatbog Faeries and Support Fat Sams Live Sat 29th September8.00pm

£12.50/£10 Box Office01382 434940

Fest’n’Furious Family Ceilidh with the Mad Parrot Ceilidh Band

Marryat Hall Sun 30th September3.00pm

£5/£3 Box Office01382 434940

Scottish Symphony OrchestraThe SSO has a long season at the Glasgow City Halls in 2007/2008. This includes ‘The Thursday Night Series’ which features works such as Holst – The Planets, Dvorak –Symphony No.7, Bartok – Music for Strings Percussiona dn Celesta, Beethoven – Violin Concerto and many more. There are also many “Discovering music Concerts” which looks behind some of the giants of music followed by a complete performance by the SSO.For more details go to www.bbc.co.uk/bbcssoIain ForbesHis first recognition as a solo guitarist was in 2003 at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Iain was honoured with a Danny Kyle award for his outstanding performance, in which he competed against bands from all over Britain. He plays many gigs in Glasgow and Ayrshire.For more details go to www.iainforbes.comGraeme ScottRead a review of Graeme’s May Concert on page 16. Future Gigs:Sat 29th September – Classical Guitar. North Motherwell Parish Church. 7.30pmSun 14th October – Performance with Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. MacRobert Centre

in Stirling. 7.30pmFor more details go to www.graemescott.com

Non-LGMA concerts are out with the control of the LGMA, and we cannot be held accountable for any cancellations that are made to concerts. Listings are correct to the best of our knowledge, and we will not be held accountable for any mistakes made.

Summer 2007 | 19

Classes and ActivitiesAs we have now come to the end of a very busy season, let’s take a look at just some of the many activities that have taken place.

Guitar ClassesAll of our guitar classes are really developing well and pictured below are just some of the participants in the Rock and Pop guitar classes which we run at Hillhouse Parish Church. There are three classes with a total of twenty four participants and all are coming along nicely. They had a special parents‘ night in April and there was a superb turnout of players and parents. Well done to them all and of course many thanks to CalumHarbison the course tutor and Michael Paterson who has been assisting and “learning the ropes” of tutoring.

Summer 2007 | 2

Above: The Hamilton LGMA Rock and Pop Guitar Classeswith tutors Calum Harbison (front left) and Michael Paterson (front second left).

Also hitting the high notes are the participants in our classical guitar class which we run in partnership with East Kilbride Arts Centre.

Right: The East Kilbride Arts Centre Young People’s Classical Guitar Class

Below: The class in concert

With Nigel Gatherer

What is Celtic Music?With musicians, promoters and the general public referring to anything Scottish and Irish as "Celtic", where does the boundary lie? We asked Nigel Gatherer, a player and tutor well known for his folk music expertise, for his views on: “What is Celtic Music?”

The term “Celtic Music” has problems, because it means different things to different people. To some it's a marketing label used so that traditional music with roots in Ireland and Scotland can be found together in record shops and so on, and that's probably what most people understand by the term Celtic Music. To others it's a bond between "seven nations", Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Isle of Man, Brittany, Cornwall and Galicia – the so-called Celtic fringes, where the original Celtic tribes penetrated and survived to an extent. Many actually believe that the music and people of these areas are descendents of a mythical romantic race, and it can lead to ideas of pure-blood supremacy. The truth is that there is no music from the times when Celtic tribes existed as an entity, and every one of these areas is now made up of descendants from many ethnic origins. Scotland itself consists of people with origins as diverse as Pictish, Celtic, Scandinavian, Dutch, French, Welsh, English, Italian, Polish, Indian, Pakistani... and so on.

If we identify Celtic Music as music mainly from Ireland and Scotland, the reason for a unifying term is that the music of these two countries has much in common, and there are many shared tunes within each tradition. It is generally accepted, for example, that the reel originated in Scotland, and was enthusiastically absorbed into Irish dance and music; many of the old Irish reels have origins in Scotland. Also, because of the many collections of fiddle music which were published in Scotland from the 18th century, music arrived in this way too. Travel and kinship between Scotland and Ireland over the centuries has resulted in a lot of exchange and cross-pollination. It is said that at one time as much as a third of the population in Scotland's Central Lowlands had some Irish background, so with the waves of Irish immigrants, came Irish culture. Today, towns such as Glasgow have a strong affinity with Irish music, while areas in Ireland such as Donegal have a strong affinity with Scottish music.

Celtic music has gone through various periods of fashion and disinterest. In 17th century England, for example, Scottish music became rather popular, and one of the first publications of printed music, Playford's collections, featured “Scotch” tunes. In the 19th century, Scottish culture was of great interest in the Europe of the Romantic era, and novels, paintings, stories and music were eagerly consumed. Beethoven, Hayden and other composers set arrangements of traditional Scottish tunes. In a similar way, Irish culture has been exalted in the past 20 years, and you now have a huge interest in Irish music: Irish bars all over the world, even Irish sandwich shops! Irish music was shaken up in the early 1960s when musician Sean O'Riada started arranging Irish tune sets in a new way, which wasn't traditional, but was judged by listeners as enhancing the music. Out of his ventures came The Chieftains, a group of traditional musicians who continued presenting the music in this new way, with multi-instrumental arrangements. They, and even more so in the 1970s with Irish folk groups such as The Bothy Band and Planxty, ensured an enormous rise in the popularity of Irish music.

Another thing which has contributed to the rise of Celtic music is the pub session. In the 1940s and 50s large numbers of Irish people came to London for work, mostly in the building trade. They congregated in certain bars, and a few became known for having Irish music. This was the beginning of a phenomenon which slowly but surely spread around the world. You can now find Irish pub sessions just about anywhere, and it has also inspired many people to explore their own heritages, so you have English sessions, Scottish sessions, Klezmer, Cape Breton, etc. One of the reasons why so many people are keen to learn a musical instrument now, I believe, is because they see people having a session in a pub, and they feel like they want to join in. For this reason, Celtic music is enjoying a rosey period.

Celtic Music as a term may not mean much as an ethnic identifier, but as a catch-all label for certain genres of folk music it is a fact of life, and as such it more easily understood than explained.

If you have any questions, get in touch on newsletter@mandolinscotland.org.

Summer 2007 | 18

WITH NIGEL GATHERER

LGMA RaffleMany thanks to all of you who purchased tickets for the LGMA raffle. The prize draw took place on Saturday 16th

June at our annual concert in our home base at East Kilbride Arts Centre. We can confirm that all those whopurchased the pink style cloakroom tickets earlier in the year had their details transferred on to the official raffle tickets.

The Winners were as follow:1st prize (Eastman mandolin) Mrs M Duthie from Eaglesham2nd prize (Yamaha C40 guitar) Mr I Campbell from East Kilbride3rd prize (Ozark mandolin) Ms R Williamson from Glasgow

Congratulations to the winners and thank you again to all of you who took part. The money raised will help the LGMA to continue to bring mandolin and guitar music to Lanarkshire. Also, a thank you to Folk Revolution of Glasgow, which supplied the Eastman Mandolin.

Youth Profile – Dawn GetliffeWe continue our look at some of our young members with Dawn Getliffe, a pupil of Calum Harbison and a Mango member.

Dawn is a 3rd year pupil at Hamilton Grammar and started to play acoustic guitar in primary 7, where in fact she was taught by the LGMA’s very own Calum Harbison. However as you can see from the photograph she also plays electric guitar, a new musical talent which she started to learn in second year. Dawn has no particular preference and enjoys both styles of playing.

And her favourite music? KT Tunstall, Natasha Bedingfield and of course… James Morrison.

Dawn joined Mango just over a year ago and says she really enjoys it, adding that the recent residential weekend was good fun because shemade friends and took part in lots of different activities.

This year Dawn used her other musical talent when she sang a solo in the third year ensemble when they performed as part of Hamilton Grammar’s “Summer Show Case”. Talking of the Grammar school, a wee secret that Dawn managed to keep quiet was the fact that she got first prize in music for “Best in Year” (3rd Year), in fact she got fiveprizes for “Best in Year” in music, art, chemistry, biology and French and as if that’s not enough she recently completed a home study course in German (SQA). So well done Dawn and keep up the good work!

Da Capo Alba CD on the wayDa Capo Alba, the LGMA’s adult orchestra, is often asked by audience members if there is a CD of the pieces, and so far the answer has been “not yet”. Now this will change, because this year Da Capo Alba set aside two Saturdays to record some of the repertoire. Some time ago, the orchestra recorded pieces from its repertoire, and this year seemed like a good time to record some of the current material with a view to completing the CD.

The recording sessions in May and June yielded excellent results. Da Capo Alba and the LGMA would like to thank Geoff Redmayne and the people of Fenwick Church for allowing us to use the Church to record in and for their help and hospitality. Thanks also goes to Gerry Bain who has been our recording engineer. Finally, well done to all the orchestra members who worked very hard, and who gave perseverance and concentration, even when pieces had to be played several times.

In the fullness of time, there will be a Da Capo Alba CD available to buy at concerts and by post. The pieces recorded include classical, pop, traditional as well as foreign pieces. Watch this space for more details and a release date!

Summer 2007 | 3

WITH NIGEL GATHERER

Welcome to the first of a new series on rock/pop guitar. In this series of articles we will look at a few different areas of rock/pop guitar repertoire. The contents are intended as sets of ideas which people could work with and develop further in either playing or teaching guitar. The music will be in guitar tablature (with rhythm added) and the level of difficulty is fairly easy, but not complete beginner level (in our terminology ‘improver’ to ‘intermediate’).

In this issue we suggest some ideas for classic rock riffs; these tend to go back a few years, but are still firm favourites with guitarists and are good for teaching even now. There are lots more to be found if you dig out all your old LPs from the 60's and 70's - or look for all the bargain compilation CD’s around.

A quick guide to TAB: Horizontal lines are strings - from 6 (low E) up to 1 (high E). Numbers are frets.

Summer 2007 | 4

Deep Purple – Smoke on the Water

The Doors – Roadhouse Blues

Cream – Sunshine of Your Love

Beatles – Day Tripper

The Kinks – You Really Got Me

Our Youth Orchestra “Team Building” Residential Weekend

Summer 2007 | 17

No No. I insist... you go first

Not afraid are you?

No I’m just Praying!!!

The abseiling tower was very high and it was the first time for many, some were brave, some were terrified and some were..... “ehm excuse me Nick you’re upside down! I thought you’d done this before?”… “yes I have, I tried it in Australia.”

Talking about Australia…

What’s Barbara up to?!

I’m not scared.. I’m not scared…I’m not scared.. OK OK I’m SCARED! It’s a mile high!!!!

Oh Sh@%!!

I could do it 20 years ago...Nae Bother!

Our Youth Orchestra “Team Building” Residential WeekendWhat a Fun Fun Fun time we had!

Preparing to go canoeing and actually canoeing are two different things…. someone forgot to tell Gemma that you’re supposed to stay in the canoe!!

Mango’s next concert will be from aYellow Submarine, playingHändel’s “Water Music”.

We wanted to teach them how to conduct an orchestra but they had their own ideas on what type of “baton” they would use… maybe Barbara would get more attention if she used a sword?

aah!No one told me the water would be cold!!

Concert Reviewsby Calum Harbison

Jochen Ross and Jens-Uwe Popp, East Kilbride Arts CentreThe LGMA was delighted to present Jochen Ross (mandolin) and Jens-Uwe Popp (guitar) in concert at the Arts Centre back in March. Jochen is from Hamburg and is a good friend of the LGMA and Da Capo Alba, especially Barbara and Ian. He lived and worked beside them for a year or so in Hamilton. Jochen and his duo partner, Jens-Uwe, are both stunning musicians on their instruments and their music is always technically brilliant and extremely well-rehearsed. For this occasion they were joined by Andrew Cruickshank, from Glasgow an accomplished double bassist.

When Jochen spent time in Scotland he not only taught mandolin to a lot of people, but he also absorbed a lot of Celtic music, particularly through his involvement with Nigel Gatherer. This was evident in the music performed at this concert as it was great to hear two Germans doing such fine arrangements of tunes such as ‘The Dark and Slender Boy’, ‘The Banks o’ Doon’, and ‘Parcel of Rogues’. Their programme also included two of Nigel Gatherer’s compositions, ‘Air for Linda’ and ‘East Parkside’, the latter of which is the title track of their forthcoming CD.

We also heard some of the music which we had heard in their previous visit here, from the duo’s first CD, ‘Zeitpunkte’. For me, one the highlights of their set was ‘Café’ which is a Tango by the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla. Again, this can be heard on the CD ‘Zeitpunkte’ along with two others by Piazzolla.

This was a very accomplished performance by three brilliant musicians and those of us who were there were very fortunate to hear it. There were a variety of styles in the concert and the inclusion of the Celtic music gives a new dimension to their programme. Jochen and Jens-Uwe’s new CD has been a long time in the making. A lot of effort (and expense) has gone into it and it features a number of top-class musicians. They even took a long trip up to the far north of Scotland to have photos taken for the cover. When it is finished and available to buy, the readers of the LGMA newsletter will be the first to know!

Graeme Scott at St. Bride’s Hall, Motherwell on 26th MayOn Saturday 26th May, Graeme Scott performed a concert of solo classical guitar music in Motherwell. Graeme played with Da Capo Alba for a short time, so this was a great opportunity to let some of us hear him shine.

The first half began with a piece by Robert de Visee, see the BMG summer newsletter or www.banjomandolinguitar.co.uk for a short article about him. There then followed a Fugue in A minor and a Prelude in E major by Bach. These were originally violin pieces and were transcribed by Segovia (as was a lot of the classical guitar repertoire). We then heard four pieces from the collection ‘Castles of Spain’ by F. M. Torroba. I am familiar with the work of Bach and would never tire of hearing it, but the ‘Castles of Spain’ pieces were new to me and were really pleasant. The first half ended with ‘Cordoba’ and ‘Asturias’ by Albeniz which are well known and lovely guitar pieces. Graeme informed us that the opening of ‘Asturias’ depicts the rain falling at the start of a storm. He went on to mention sheep on the hillside and such like, although I’ve now got this unfortunate image of sheep being barbequed by the lightning (Graeme’s fault, not mine – “You’ve taken that too far!”).

The second half of the programme took us further into the twentieth century, starting with three Afro Cuban dances by Ernesto Lecuona, the Cuban composer. Again these are transcribed from piano originals, and they were very attractive pieces with great rhythms. Graeme told us that they have a laid back feel, and that you have to “feel as if the sun is slowing down your life”. That’s fine in Cuba, but not so easy in Lanarkshire, although we do try when it comes out! We then had five pieces by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla. He was an exponent of the “Nuevo Tango”, which brought jazz and classical influences to the tango music of Argentina. I love the music of Piazzolla, having first heard it from Jochen Ross and Jens-Uwe Popp, and the background information provided by Graeme helped to give me a better understanding of it all. Graeme continued with ‘Una Limosna Por el Amor del Dios’ by Barrios, and his own arrangement of Mascagni’s ‘Intermezzo’ from the Cavalleria Rusticana. For me, the best was kept until last, as he finished off with the ‘Koyunbaba Suite’ by Carlo Domeniconi. Again, this music was new to me. Domeniconi was Italian and lived in Turkey. This piece is in a Turkish style and the guitar is tuned to C# minor. It was an outstanding piece, with wonderful chords and ornamentation. It gets quite frantic towards the end and was a terrific piece to end with.

Summer 2007 | 5www.graemescott..comSummer 2007 | 16

LGMA 2007 ConcertsCalum Harbison, our Chairman and leader of the mandola section in Da Capo Alba, takes a looks back at the LGMA concerts of 2007.

West Kirk, East Kilbride – Da Capo AlbaThe Lanarkshire Guitar & Mandolin Orchestra, Da Capo Alba, staged their first concert of 2007 in the West Kirk, East Kilbride on the 24th March. As with other church concerts, this was a joint effort between the LGMA and the church, and funds raised went towards both organisations.

The orchestra programme, as always, featured music from various parts of the world, on this occasion from Greece, Italy, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Sweden and Scotland. We performed baroque pieces – namely Clarke’s ‘Trumpet Tune’ and ‘Prince of Denmark’s March’, Charpentier’s ‘Te Deum Prelude’ (also well-known as the Eurovision theme tune), and a Voluntary with solo mandolin parts by William Boyce. In the second half we played ‘Music for Play’ by the Italian composer Claudio Mandonico. This piece (which is more serious than its title suggests) has been brought back from obscurity to be reinstated to the programme. It

was one of our most successful pieces a few years ago, particularly at one of the BMG Rallies. ‘Music for Play’ is anoutstanding guitar & mandolin orchestra piece, and is very cleverly composed. It is one of our favourite pieces, and one benefit of us having been going for so many years now is that we are in a position to bring back old pieces which had previously been shelved.

Other items in the programme were the much loved ABBA medley, the Scottish traditional set (split into two sections) and three South American pieces from the set, ‘Cordillera’ arranged by Inge Kalberer. We also played the beautiful Greek pieces, ‘Ballade of Uri’ and ‘Waltz of the Lost Dreams’ which were brought to us by Frank Scheurle when he worked with us. Da Capo Alba concerts normally feature two or three items by small groups. On this occasion Barbara Pommerenke-Steel and I played a piece for keyboard and mandolin by Adiego Guerra. The audience was also treated to a set of music from Eddie Smith (guitar & vocal), Eugene McLaughlin (mandolin) and Alison Shepherd (whistle).

Overall this was an enjoyable concert. This was a new venue for Da Capo Alba and the turnout of people from the church was good. The stage was quite small, but this sometimes helps the orchestra to play better on account of being closer to each other. It was also nice to mix with people from the audience at the interval and we were grateful to the people of the church for providing tea /coffee and food for everyone there.

East Kilbride Arts Centre – Da Capo Alba and MangoThe June concert at East Kilbride Arts Centre is now an annual event and always a very enjoyable one. This one was no exception, and it was very busy as it featured a set from our Youth Orchestra, Mango, and some very impressive solos and duets. The Arts Centre Theatre is a good venue for us as it is quite intimate, and we manage to sell it out every year.

The programme by Da Capo Alba was similar to the one performed at East Kilbride West Kirk. Our only addition to the programme was the first movement of ‘Concerto al’ Unisono’ by Dall’ Abaco. Look out for the rest of it next year (once we can play it all!) As some of our more regular audience (or ‘gluttons for punishment’) might agree, we need to freshen up our programme, so in this concert we were saying goodbye to a few pieces which won’t be performed again for the foreseeable future, except perhaps when we go to Ireland in October. This means that we will soon have an exciting new programme of material for audiences to savour, so the orchestra will be working hard after thesummer to develop the new music.

Mango played very well, especially considering how young some of the members are. Their programme included ‘When September Ends’, a blues piece by Gerald Martin, and a very effective set of pieces in a rock style by Martin Grohmann. It is a testament to the hard work of Barbara (and others) that we have been able to develop such a good youth orchestra with around twenty members. As well as playing well together, the youth orchestra also get on increasingly well together and this comes across when you see them perform.

Summer 2007 | 6

The LGMA decided to take Mango on an adventure weekend to Whithaugh Adventure Park. We all met at 5pm and waited for the bus driver (Scooter) to turn up. During the bus journey we stopped at a service station so Joanne could buy a 275 calorie ‘Double Decker’ and others got some food too.

At 8pm we arrived (whoo hoo!) and went to check out our cabins. We did not get fed ‘till 9pm(!!) and after tea (finally!) we went for a walk in complete darkness, which was scary, and all we had for light were the torches on our phones (which might we add, had no signal!) On the way back there was a ditch which looked empty but of course it wasn’t and some silly people jumped into wet, soggy mud!

Later that night the girls couldn’t get to sleep as they couldn’t decide whether there was an alien or not! So for at least two hours, we were shouting about turning the lights on or off, and poor Rachel (who was the furthest away from the light switch) had to keep on getting up to turn the lights on or off! After all that the girls didn’t get to sleep until 3am. Goodness knows what those boys were up to, but do we really want to know?

In the morning we had to get up at a very early 7am so we could get ready for breakfast at 8am! After breakfast we had an orchestra practice for two hours. For our first activity, we could choose between abseiling and fencing and we picked abseiling! We were walking and then we saw the big tower and our jaws dropped! Once we had our helmets on (helmet hair afterwards!) we climbed to the top. We tried to get Barbara to abseil down but she wasn’t having any of it and ran back down the tower!

Later that day we went kayaking. Graeme capsized three times and that had to be one of the best parts of the whole trip (not for Graeme though!) In one of the games we played we formed a big line and were all given numbers 1 to 9. Two numbers were called and those people had to swap kayaks. Needless to say, a few people got a little wet from sinking the kayaks. You should have seen their faces. It was a picture worth taking. We all carried on having a laugh and then we were getting pushed off the edge into the water and it was so funny because when Graeme got pushed in he capsized straight away. That was the end of our kayaking experience! During that day we had an egg hunt in set teams. Everyone found all the eggs, but Gemma’s team won after solving the clue!

That night we went to the low ropes course. It was really funny. This time we got to pick our own groups! Joanne got stuck in the tyres right in the middle above a massive muddy puddle. There was a rope bridge which was quite scary because if you didn’t push out then you would fall from side to side. Kirsty, Natalie and Joanne made it across. Gemma on the other hand got herself in a bit of a mess – nothing to do with Kirsty, Natalie and Ian shaking the bridge! Barbara also got herself in such a mess that her foot was the only thing keeping her from falling in the big puddle!

The next day was Sunday, the last day, a sad time for us all! First thing bright and early everyone was up and dressed for breakfast apart from one, Graeme. After breakfast Graeme finally decided to make an appearance at orchestra rehearsal. When orchestra was finished we had a chance to get ready for our next activity which was fencing for us and kayaking for others. After we were given our outfits, we were taught how to fence and we all got a chance to fight each other which was good.

Later on after lunch we all went to do team challenges called Operation Eggburt! It was two teams: boys vs. girls. We all had to do challenges to win points to buy things to save an egg, which would be dropped off of the abseiling tower. In the end the girls didn’t win… Finally we arrived home and had to say goodbye to all our newly made friends. Awww. It was a fun weekend and thanks to Ian, Barbara and Carolyn for making it so good!

Some pictures of the weekend are shown on the next pages along with some interesting captions (thanks to Ian for this!!)

Summer 2007 | 15

In April, Mango, our Youth Orchestra, went on a Residential Weekend to Whithaugh Park, Newcastleton. Gemma Pate and Kristy Ravenscroft, guitar players and members of Mango, give their account of the weekend.

page x

Two aspects of this concert will stick in my memory. Firstly, Ian’s banter was as good as ever and always creates a relaxed atmosphere. His story about Barbara and parking tickets was particularly funny and I don’t know how people were able to play a note immediately after it. Secondly, we had an extremely high standard of chamber items. Nicholas Milligan and Craig McMurray both performed impressive classical guitar solos. John King and Graeme Scott did a lovely guitar duet (with a jazzy feel to it) and Graeme then went on to perform ‘Milonga’ by Gorge Cardoso as a solo. We were very privileged to hear such excellent classical guitar playing by all of these people.

LGMA Youth Concert in East KilbrideIn order to get a flavour of the activities of the LGMA with young people, you have to experience the Annual Youth Concert at the Murray Hall in East Kilbride. This year’s took place on the 17th June and was great fun as usual.The groups which took part were:- the Mandolin Beginners, Mandolin Improvers, Mandolin Intermediate, Mandolin Advanced, the Classical Guitar Class, the Rock/ Pop Guitar Classes (Beginners, Improvers and Intermediate), and Mango. In addition we had a classical guitar solo by Craig McMurray and a rock guitar duet by Dawn Getliffe and Duncan Harbison. When we bring the participants in all these groups together, it can be seen that there are quite a lot of young people involved. This is very encouraging, and we have to remember that this concert didn’t include any of the Lanark Classes or the Dumbarton Classes. The concert can be quite lengthy, but it is important that all the young people get a reasonable chance to perform. A large number of family and friends turned out for the concert and all of the young people involved received great encouragement.

The music performed varied greatly and gave us a real mixture of styles. You will have to guess which different groupsperformed the following pieces: -- El Condor Pasa (Simon & Garfunkel), St. Kilda Wedding, Blues in C, Frere Jacques, Theme from ‘Titanic’, Funky Dance in Blue, Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine), Concerto in G (Telemann), 500 miles (The Proclaimers), Flamenco Pick, Rockzipfel, Unterrock, Seek and Destroy (Metallica) and variations on a theme by Pachelbel.

This concert requires a lot of work and is quite draining for the tutors and organisers, but it is a success for the following reasons:- lots of children and young people get the chance to perform in front of a sizeable audience,

- young people in classes get the chance to hear people from other classes playing. The beginners can hear some advanced players and get an idea of what can be achieved if they work hard,- parents and friends are able to hear some of the other instruments and groups which we work with and thus gain a broader understanding of the work of the LGMA.- we are able to finish the session off on a high. The young people enjoy ending the course with a special event like this and they feel a sense of achievement by the end of it.

So from all the classes it’s bye bye till next term!

Summer 2007 | 7

Many world class performers were emerging, Carlo Munier (1859 – 1911) being one of the most famous (great newphew of Parsquale Vinaccia). During his lifetime Munier published more than three hundred and fifty works, and others remained in manuscript. Still used today by many students of mandolin is his "Mandolin Method" in two volumes, containing over two hundred pages of study material with Italian, French and English text. This method is supplemented by "La Scioglidita", four books of progressive exercises covering all phases of mandolin technique; and "Opus 216", twenty studies for advanced students giving many concerts and publishing compositions and mandolin methods.

Other notable performers included Guiseppie Branzoli (1835 – 1909) who was regarded as the most highly respected mandolin teacher in Rome and who produced a very popular mandolin method “Metodo teorico-practico per mandolino napolitano o romano”. This mandolin method won gold medals at the International Music Exposition in Bologna in 1888 and at the Palace of Industry in Paris in 1890.

There is an endless list of world class players that emerged during this period and I have to mention Silvio Ranieri (1882 - 1956) whose world class performances inspired many players and students.

The mandolin “epidemic” was also spreading In Europe, the USA and Britain as each country began to see the emergence of their own mandolin virtuosos. In France Jules and Madeleine Cotton (brother

and sister) were two of the leading mandolinists in the country. Both produced very popular methods for mandolin playing and Jules wrote a considerable number of studies and compositions for mandolin. Jean Pietrapertosa was another highly respected performer and teacher who wrote many compositions and a mandolin method.

In France alone it is estimated that during the first decade of the twentieth century about fifty mandolin methods were published with several individual methods selling more than 100,000 copies. In 1892 Pietrapertosa wrote:

“The mandolin has risen enormously in public estimation in the last few years, owing to the virtuosi (among whose numbers they have kindly included me) having fought valiantly in its favour, in public and professionally. The result of their efforts has been to establish the mandolin firmly in the illustrious family of solo instruments for either concert or drawing-room. The result is now fully confirmed by the large numbers of pupils seeking counsel and lessons from masters of renown.” (Pietrapertosa 1892)

It is impossible in these few pages to capture the real effect of the “mandolin mania” that was now spreading to many countries, but an indication of its popularity is given by the fact that in Britian by the 1900’s the mandolin was considered to be the second most popular public and household instrument in the country (exceeded only by the piano). In the Autumn issue of your LGMA newsletter we will look at the amazing rise in poularity of the mandolin and its exponents in Britian and the USA.

With thanks to Paul Sparks author of “The Classical Mandolin” and Alex Timmerman, owner and creator of Embegher.com

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Get in touch with the LGMADrop us an email…

Ian Pommerenke-Steel • Secretary/Admin/Development Officer • secretary@mandolinscotland.org

Lynn K Duthie • Membership Secretary • membership@mandolinscotland.org

Graeme Thomson • Editor • newsletter@mandolinscotland.org

Or log on to www.mandolinscotland.org and we will be more than happy to help.

Calace mandolin1916

Embergher Soloist Model No 5 1904With thanks to Alex Timmerman for theuse of the photo from embergher.com

Two different instruments of the 16th century are known by the name Vihuela. The Spanish Vihuela is one of the ancestors of the classical guitar. In Italy and Portugal the instrument is known bythe name viola da mano. The shape of the instrument resembles a guitar, but it is strung with six courses (pairs) of gut strings tuned in fourths and one third.

Some characteristics of the instrument are: o Body with side and back - not like the lute with its bowl-shaped

bodyo Neck with movable, wrapped-around and tied-on gut fretso tuning pegs that point backwardso Six double strings with tuning identical to the six-course

Renaissance lute — 4ths and mid-3rd (order of intervals: 44344).

There were several different types of vihuela (or different playing methods at least):

Vihuela de mano — 6 or 5 courses played with the fingers Vihuela de penola — played with a plectrum Vihuela de arco — played with a bow (ancestor of the viola da gamba)

The plucked variety developed in the mid 1400s in Spain and was common in the late 15th and 16th century.

Repertoire The first publication for the vihuela was by the Spanish composer Luis de Milán in 1536. It was written in tablature.

Other important publications were “Tres Libros de Música” by Alonso Mudarra (1546) and “Los seys libros del Delphin” by Luis de Narváez (1538).

Luis de MilánLuis de Milán (c. 1500 – 1561) was a Spanish composer who probably lived in Valencia. The Book Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro (1536) contains pieces of different difficulty. The style of the compositions varies from simple homophony to polyphony and virtuoso passage-work.

Pavana 1On page 9 is the first of six Pavanas by Milan, written in 1535. Below are some points to look out for whilst rehearsing.

When playing this polyphonic piece you should try to ensure the balance of the notes within one chord (meaning that all notes can be heard equally).

Pay attention to the note values (in particular in bars 21/22 and 27- 30) to let each voice be heard.

Fingerings are shown in the piece

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The Guitar (Part 1) – The VihuelaA short series on guitar history by Barbara Pommerenke-Steel

In the previous two parts we looked at the rise and fall of the mandolin from the early 18th to the mid 19th century. In this part we look at the time period where there was an explosion of interest seldom seen in the music world… “The Hey Day of the Mandolin”

The Turning Point - Italy and the Modern MandolinI think it is fair to say that Pasquale Vinaccia’s new developments in mandolin build and design proved to be a major turning point in the popularity of the instrument and what could be described as the rediscovery of the mandolin. For a long time no other Italian maker could rival the quality and sound of the Vinaccia instruments. This however was soon to change as in Naples and Rome the names of Raffaele Calace and Luigi Embergher were to make an impact on the mandolin world that lasts ‘till this day, and it would be inexcusable of me not to give a brief outline of these great masters.

In Naples the Calace "Liuteria" lute-making workshop was founded in 1825 by Nicola Calace, on the island of Procida near Naples. The business was continued by his two sons Nicola and Rafflaele. Both were fine builders and musicians, but it was Raffaele who was to emerge to such an extent that he was, and still is, regarded as the greatest figure in the mandolin’s 400 year

history. An outstanding performer and composer, (he composed more than 180 works for fretted instruments, including mandolin methods) he was continually developing and improving the design and quality of mandolins and mandolin family instruments. Some of his mandolin compostions required more frets on the finger board and we saw the development of the fretboard continuing over the sound hole in what is often refered to as “concert style”.

And in Rome Giovanni De Santis, Giovanni Battista and Luigi Embergher are credited with refining and developing what is generally referred to as The Roman Mandolin. This style of mandolin differed significantly from the Neapolitan style, the main features being the 'V' shape of the neck, raised, curved and extended ebony fingerboard (more like a violin), 25 to 29 frets, fret placement (the 10th through 25th (or 29th) in the highest positions to intonate slightly sharp to achieve a more brilliant sound.

However, it was Luigi Antonio Embergher (~1856- 1943) who continued to make further refinements to the design, and his mandolins and mandolin family instruments quickly became very popular ultimately creating what many modern performers regard as the finest instruments ever made, and still used by many of the world’s most outstanding classical players. He also created the plucked string quartet (two mandolins, a mandoliola and a luito cantabile: tuning C - G - d - a - e').

By the 1880s there were now many prominent luthiers; Vinaccia, Calace and Embergher being the most popular but builders like De Meglio, Salsedo and Ceccherini were also producing top quality instruments and all were now exporting abroad. In France, Germany, America and the UK the mandolin “explosion” was beginning.

Of course it was not just the quailty of mandolins that led to its increasing popularity, but of equal importance were the public appearances of some outstanding performers which brought the mandolin back into the public domain.

In Italy the growing popularity of the instrument was sufficient enough for players to organise themselves into societies which were know as Circoli Mandolinisti, which usually consisted of a few professional teachers/performers and up to sixty or seventy serious amateurs… including important Royal “attachments”.

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The Mandolin From 1860 To The Early 20th Century

PART 3 of a short series on classical mandolin historyby Ian Pommerenke-Steel

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