The mandolone, almost exclusive to the Neapolitan tradition, has undergone a gradual and inexorable decline. This is because the pieces written for its players are few and not uniquely attributable.
Almost all ancient transcriptions for mandolone are part of arrangements made for mandolins orchestras, and thus the bass version of the mandola is not considered an independent chordophone.
Historically, this instrument was created simply to fill and brighten the sound spectrum in Neapolitan music and as a response to the increasing demand for volume and complexity of the period.
Even during its peak period, the mandolone, being entirely secondary, had few followers even in the cultured Neapolitan tradition and in the popular one.
Often, professional musicians and amateurs, with rare exceptions, preferred instruments with a more classical, traditional, or convenient structure or adapted the arrangements for mandolincello.
It is an extravagant middle ground between the mandolin and the cello in timbre, but with a much more successful history, still part of instruments used in orchestras.
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The History of the Mandolone
The mandolone, at first glance, is very similar to the mandolin, although it is enormously larger, with a shape that only from the front resembles that of the principal solo instrument, but viewed from the side, it is different in many respects.
In fact, the most noticeable characteristic is related to issues of maneuverability, because the mandolone has a flat bottom and presents a different neck and fingerboard compared to mandolins and mandolas.
It was originally an orchestra complement, created in the 18th century, almost solely to cover the bass range.
This instrument does not have the broad sound spectrum of the mandolincello, nor its versatility, but it was still used to enrich Neapolitan compositions until its near-total disappearance in the 19th century.
From studies and reconstructions, it has always been a challenging instrument that did not meet the favor of performers due to its cumbersome proportions.
Additionally, aside from having a significantly smaller range compared to the mandolincello, the mandolone had a lower volume, meaning it was not conceived to play solo, making orchestral formation difficult.
It was also unsuitable to be paired with violas, cellos, and violins, both for stylistic and acoustic reasons, as their construction features were becoming more refined with stronger, more defined, and distinguishable sounds.
There are few details about the actual nature of the mandolone in historical times. At its peak, these instruments were always fairly rare, and the surviving specimens are not many. The difficulty in reliable reconstruction is compounded by the fact that many experts disagree on the attribution of the name.
Even regarding their tuning, music historians are not fully agreed, although later versions and brief revivals stabilized on harmonic scales of fourths and fifths, reflecting the trends of the times when it was resurrected by luthiers.
Ancient sources are few and fragmented, but the most reliable ones speak of a sound similar to that of a lute played with a plectrum, but this refers specifically to the case of the four-course Roman mandolone.
Some have raised doubts about the reliability of the source, as the music that theoretically should have been written for this instrument does not match the scales.
This suggests that the authors may have referred to different instruments as “mandolone” and that there was no consistency in the definition.
For example, some timbres were in between those of the mandolincello or bass, and experts generally agree that the name could vary considerably with denominations like lute cantabile, archlute, and mandobass, making it essentially impossible to trace the instrument in its definitive form in musical literature.
Some texts even refer to it as a guitar with 12 strings, which makes it difficult to securely distinguish historical instruments.
More recently, in the 1800s, the mandolone returned as a feature in mandolin orchestras, and the current model is that of a flat-bottomed instrument, much larger than the lute, and with only four large strings tuned in fourths.
Shape and Tunings of the Mandolone
Most of the ancient and recently reconstructed instruments feature a resonating body that is rounder than that of the mandolin, and the top forms an obtuse angle at approximately the bridge height. Also, the pegs or tuning pegs are often inserted into the headstock not from the sides, but from the back.
The scale is in fourths, referencing the most typical tuning reconstructed by experts: A, D, G, C. Although often, the mandolone is found tuned in fifths in some modern and historical reconstruction orchestras for extension purposes.
However, perhaps the presence of such a wide scale on an instrument with too large a neck is the real cause of the decline in interest for it, both by performers and composers.
Indeed, the fingerboard is longer than that of the lute and the mandolincello, which makes it difficult for the hand to maneuver, especially when played as a bass for mandolins and other similar instruments.
The instrument referred to as mandolone also includes another instrument with the same configuration that vaguely resembles modern and Arabic lutes, but with strings tuned individually according to the scheme D, E, F, B, E, G, F.
Modern versions of the mandolone, which actually derive in some aspects from the bandura and the lute, have a wide and particularly long neck, with large strings that require significant force to be played.
The instrument must be held with the resonating body between the legs when sitting, with a position similar to that of a classical guitar.
Unlike the mandolin, which allows the hand to move very quickly, this instrument prefers a slower performance using a plectrum held between the thumb and index finger, using wrist motion to pluck the strings.
The tremolo technique can be applied, just like with other instruments in the mandolin family, but the inertia of the strings makes continuous execution quite difficult, so usually, a faster and detached plucking is preferred, allowing the notes to develop properly.
Similar to the traditional Arabic and Berber lutes, the sound is dry and less bass-heavy compared to traditional basses, as it must compete with mandolins in orchestras, which have a bright, attack-rich tone with a fairly narrow sound spectrum.
As for the neck, the mandolone does not have a fixed number of frets. It is believed that many examples may have followed the same division as the mandolin, which has between 17 and 29 frets, but due to the lack of reliable and unified sources, these are mere speculations.
Differences Compared to the Lute
The mandolin family includes many similar instruments, including the mandolin itself, and the mandola as properly named.
There is also the tenor mandolin, also called mandolincello, especially popular in Italy, and finally the mandolone, an instrument that directly derives from the lute and was last adapted to align with the characteristics of others. It is not just a large mandolin, but technically a modified lute.
The main characteristics that separate the instruments in the mandolin family from lutes are the more rounded resonating body, the bent top forming a pronounced obtuse angle, about the height of the bridge, a generally shorter neck, and the position of the pegs from the back, rather than the sides, as seen in many instruments of the time.
More characteristic is the way mandolins are played, using the tremolo plectrum technique. The notes are plucked, often continuously without lifting the fingers, by moving the fingertips from one position to another.
For the lute, the right hand is used to pluck the notes, with frequent breaks and continuous sound achieved with the sostenuto on open strings.
The sound of the mandolone and its playing technique vary greatly depending on the musician and composition, but if we refer to the Neapolitan tradition, we can find parts that emphasize the melody, alternated with simple linear basses.