Listen & tracks

10 works

1 Sonata in D Mateo Albéniz
2 Le Streghe (The Witches) Niccolò Paganini
Suite No. 6Hermann Ambrosius 5 movements
1. 3 Präludium
2. 4 Menuett
3. 5 Sarabande
4. 6 Gavotte
5. 7 Badinerie
JugoslavijaRalph Paulsen-Bahnsen 4 movements
1. 8 Allegro
2. 9 Adagio
3. 10 Allegro
4. 11 Allegro moderato
12 Rondo Scherzoso Konrad Wölki
13 Baška Voda Peter Hoch
14 Flight of the Bumble Bee Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Guitar Concerto in DAntonio Vivaldi 3 movements
1. 15 Allegro
2. 16 Andante – Largo
3. 17 Allegro
18 Serenade Espagnole François Menichetti
19 Never on Sunday Manos Hadjidakis

The programme spans more than four centuries, from Baroque Vivaldi through Classical Mateo Albéniz and the Romantic voices of Paganini and Rimsky-Korsakov to the twentieth century. Konrad Wölki (1904–1983) and Hermann Ambrosius (1897–1983) stand among the composers who shaped the mandolin-orchestra repertoire. Peter Hoch (b. 1937) and Ralph Paulsen-Bahnsen (b. 1954) supply rhythmic interest through displaced accents and changing metres. François Menichetti may be little known beyond the mandolin world, yet Hadjidakis’s Never on Sunday is a familiar favourite and sits well with the ensemble.

Solo mandolin: Kurt Jensen

Solo accordion: Juliette Maxwell

Solo flute: Petra Laity

Solo guitar: Louise Docherty

Artists

Concordia Mandolin and Guitar Ensemble

ensemble

Concordia Mandolin and Guitar Ensemble is a Melbourne plucked-strings chamber orchestra of about twenty-four players. Formed in 1978, its members perform on mandolins, mandolas, guitars, mandocello, double bass and piano accordion.

Antonio Vivaldi

composer

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, priest and virtuoso violinist. He is best known for his instrumental concertos, above all the violin cycle The Four Seasons.

Niccolò Paganini

composer

Paganini's Caprices, variations and concert pieces expanded the violin's technical and colouristic range, from left-hand pizzicato and harmonics to theatrical showpieces such as Le Streghe. They still set the standard for virtuoso display.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

composer

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote orchestral music steeped in Russian folk colour and fairy-tale narrative, with a gift for bright, precise orchestration. Short showpieces such as The Flight of the Bumble Bee and Song of India travel easily into arrangements for almost any instrument.

Mateo Albéniz

composer

Hermann Ambrosius

composer

Siegfried Behrend

composer

Helen Evans

composer

Manos Hadjidakis

composer

Along with his contemporary Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis (1925-1994) is one of the most prominent Greek composers of the century.

Basil Hawkins

composer

Basil Hawkins is an arranger and performer associated with Melbourne’s Concordia Mandolin and Guitar Ensemble, contributing to its recorded mandolin and guitar repertoire.

Peter Hoch

composer

François Menichetti

composer

François Menichetti is a French composer and mandolinist whose works for mandolin orchestra include Serenade Espagnole and Hungarian Journey.

Ralph Paulsen-Bahnsen

composer

Karl Thomas

composer

Arranger whose mandolin-orchestra work appears on Australian recordings of Italian repertoire, virtuoso showpieces, and Christmas carols.

Konrad Wölki

composer

Konrad Wölki (1904–1983) was a German composer, mandolinist and music educator whose works helped shape the modern repertoire for plucked-string orchestra. He wrote extensively for mandolin and guitar ensembles and published teaching methods and a history of the mandolin.