Throughout Europe the mandolin goes by several different names including; mandoline (French and German) mandolino (Italian), bandolim (Portugese) and bandolin, banjolim (Spanish) (Campbell 1980:606).
At the same time, there appears to be a linguistic connection between these words and the words mandore, pandore, bandura, tanbur, dambura etc. The main points in common are the lute and lute-like features and the similarity in the sound of the instrument name.
Middle Eastern lutes are used to perform music of the maqam system and so they have come to use a different tuning and fret arrangement from the equal temperament of the European mandolin.
Greek Pandores
Pictorial representations of the mandore (gittern) in Europe date from as early as the eleventh century. In 1618 Praetorius referred to this instrument as pandurina suggesting a connection to the pandur (Harwood 1980:609). It is possible that the mandore and the mandolin are descendants of the ancient Greek pandores (i.e. pandore-mandore-mandolin).
The ancient Greek pandoura (pandora) was a long-necked lute with a small resonating chamber. Some versions may have had three strings and were also known as the trichordon (McKinnon 1984:10). Donald Gill (1984) suggests that the larger instruments of this type were called mandore or mandola while the smaller ones were called mandolin and mandolino.
Pandurina
In the eighteenth century the pandurina (mandore) came to be referred to as the Milanese mandolin. The smaller Neapolitan mandolin is referred to in writings of the early seventeenth centuries. There were numerous variations in the design and tuning of the mandolin including the Roman mandolin, the Brescian mandolin, the Florentine mandolin and the Sienese mandolin (Campbell 1980:607).
Mandolin orchestras of the latter half of the nineteenth century fostered the development of the mandola. The mandoloncello dates from the eighteenth century while the double bass mandolin first appeared in the nineteenth century.
Design of the Mandolin
Early mandores were either carved from a single piece of wood or made with a separate neck and body as is found with lute design (Gill 1984:608). The mandolin is built according to either the bowl-lute or box-lute design.
The bowl design is half-pear shaped and made of a carvel-built ribs and an angled top. Woods used in the ribs include maple, sycamore and cypress while the top is usually made of spruce. The bridge is made from ebony or palisander. The neck is made of spruce and may have an ebony veneer to add durability (Campbell 1984:606-7). The fingerboard has 14 to 17 frets set according to equal temperament with additional frets on the top.
Mandolin Music
Compositions for the mandolin appears to have begun at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Solo compositions include the works of Francesco Contini and those of Italian virtuosos. The mandolin was first used as accompaniment to voice in opera in 1707. A famous example of this is found in Mozart's Don Giovani (1787). Antonio Vivaldi composed concertos for mandolin and chamber ensemble (in about 1736).
Music for the mandolin was written also by English, French and German composers of this era. Early performance techniques included both the single stroke and the tremolando styles. During the nineteenth century it fell into relative obscurity although was revived in the closing decades. Stylistic changes occurred whereby the tremolando stroking pattern gained prominence.
Apart from classical composition, the mandolin has faound a place in many genres of World Music including Celtic, Bluegrass and Bhangra.
References:
Campbell, R. "Mandolin" in New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Vol 11 pgs 606-609 ed S. Sadie (Macmillan Press, London, England 1980)
Gill, D. "Mandore" in New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments Vol 2 pg 608, ed S. Sadie (Macmillan Press, London, England 1984)
Harwood, I. "Mandore" in New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Vol 11 pgs 609-611, ed S. Sadie (Macmillan Press, London, England 1980)
McKinnon, J.W. "Pandoura" in New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments Vol 3 pg 10 ed S. Sadie (Macmillan Press, London 1984)
Campbell, R and Donald Gill "Mandolin" in New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments Vol 2 pgs 603-607, ed S. Sadie (Macmillan Press, London, England 1984)
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