Dear Jorg, I play continuo on theorbo and other plucked instruments and also employ the mandora/gallichon in nominal D tuning with a string length of 75cm (and also the large calchedon in nominal A tuning with sl 98cm) where the instrument is appropriate - ie mostly second to last quarter of the 18thC. There are quite a lot of songs and concerted instrumental works from the mid-18thC for the smaller instrument as obbligato with fully written out accompaniments and these provide good sources for the suitable style of continuo realisations on this instrument. Of course, the repertoire where the smaller gallichon/mandora (ie D or later E nominal) is most appropriate is not really the baroque period but the pre-classical with its longer harmonic lines and where things like measured arpeggios etc are increasingly employed. Indeed, much like some early five/six string/course guitar sources of the late 18th/early 19th C (eg Porro, Scheidler, De Call, Molitor, et als). As you remark, the instrument can be quite loud and thus provides a good continuo instrument for this later period (especially for works from German-speaking lands - but not exclusively). Incidentally, the usual intervals are not the same as on the renaissance lute (with a third between the fourth and third course) but as on the guitar (with the third between the third and second course). regards Martyn
On Thursday, 12 September 2019, 08:17:00 BST, Jörg Hilbert <[email protected]> wrote: Dear all, I have got a big Mandora in D (renaissance tuning, NOT d-minor, NOT theorobo). I may try to play some continuo with it as it's quite sonorous. Has anybody experiences with this? Thanks Jörg To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
