Repertoire of the Braunschweig Mandolin Orchestra
- stories behind some of the music
The Braunschweig Mandolin Orchestra (founded in 1912) focuses on music which could have
been played 100 years ago. We still have some of the music that was actually performed
by our orchestra in its early years in our repertoire but we also play music
from around the world that was available at that time. During the 1920s and 30s
modern musical genres emerged and mixed with more traditional, classical genres.
Musical composing was no longer restricted to a selected elite. The musicians of
early mandolin orchestras were usually ordinary people such as factory
workers who arranged, composed and published music themselves. Not everything they
created was of high quality - but some now forgotten musical gems are waiting to be
rediscovered.
Nicknamed after the surprise, sudden, loud full-orchestra chord following after
an introductory simple theme. In 1792, Haydn was in London putting on a series of concerts.
He wanted to do something fresh and clever that did not get upstaged by his former
student Pleyel. It worked: the piece was an immediate success.
Arranged for the Beethoven year. The focus is on three folk songs that were
composed or arranged by Beethoven (Signor Abate, La Marmotte, Charlie is my Darling)
interspersed with fragments of his famous classical compositions. The three folk
songs all show a sense of humour mixed with sadness: a sarcastic commentary on
an overdramatic sick friend of Beethoven's, poor children begging with a hurdy-gurdy,
and Scottish soldiers that are proudly following Bonnie Prince Charlie into a war that
most of them will not survive. The Five Minutes conclude with the theme of
Beethoven's 2. movement of the 7. symphony.
Composed by Villoldo, an Argentinian early pioneer of tango music, El Choclo is
one of the most popular, foundational tangos which later transformed into an
American pop standard titled "Kiss of Fire". Allegedly written in honour of and
taking its title from the nickname of the proprietor of a nightclub.
Composed by the 18 year old son of Montevideo's Moulin Rouge nightclub proprietor.
The "Little Parade" became the most famous tango of all times - not just in Uruguay.
It contains fragments of Verdi's Troubadour.
The Cuban "son pregon" imitates the melodic, rhythmic vocalisation that
street vendors in Havana used to announce and advertise their goods.
The song which was recorded more than 200 times started the rumba craze in the US and
Europe which lasted through the 1940s.
Cobb was an American composer who specialised in ragtime, marches, and waltzes.
There appears to be a whole genre of marches of little non-human beings
(dolls, goblins, gnomes, marionettes) - maybe in order to distinguish light-hearted
marches from military ones. Cobb's march certainly appears to express a sense of
humour. It freely combines more modern styles and harmonies with a very traditional
melody of the trio.
The African American "King of Ragtime", Scott Joplin, composed this most famous ragtime
during the height of the ragtime era and dedicated it to "James Brown and his
Mandolin Club" reflecting how string and mandolin orchestras frequently played
syncopated ragtime arrangements back then.
Composed by an American mandolin virtuoso, composer and publisher who authored
a widely referenced mandolin method. He was a proponent of bowl-back mandolins
and harboured a particular disdain for Gibson mandolins. His resale of Larson
mandolins (which he claimed were man-made under his "personal supervision")
contributed to the increasing popularity of mandolins in the US.
Composed by the Prussian military music director Albert Parlow, the piece featuring
a real blacksmith's anvil as a percussion instrument won a prestigious prize at
a military band competition festival in Lyon in 1864.
