I have usually encountered that term as a variant of renaissance "mandore," a soprano lute of the late renaissance popular in France and similar to mandolino (i.e. NOT the tenor-baritone mandora of the rococo era). Praetorius labeled it "mandoraen." The Skene manuscript of Scotland is an early 17th-c. book of tablature for renaissance mandore; both Rob MacKillop (_Flowers_of_the_Forest_) and Ronn Mcfarlane (_The_Scottish_Lute_) have recorded excerpts of the Skene book. Baugin did a lovely painting of one: <http://www.mezzo-mondo.com/arts/mm/still_life/BAL001.html>.
Best, Eugene At 05:29 AM 8/23/2004, you wrote: >would anyone be able to tell me where i could find information >concerning the mandour, particularly info. with photos? it seems to be >a popular name in the middle east and most of what comes up from the >search engine reflects that. > >any help would be appreciated. > >thank you - bill
