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Loosely Blueby Pamela J. Marshall

for an octet of mandolins, mandolas, and mandocellos

I. PreludeII. MirageIII. Blue-Gold Variations

There are four parts: Mandolin I, Mandolin II, Mandola, Mandocello

Mandolin I requires 2 players. The other parts have occasional divisi and can be cov-ered by one player if necessary. The mandola part is provided in treble clef (notated an octave higher) and alto clef. Some double-stops and chords are notated divisi. Double-stops that are not marked divisi can be played either way.

Loosely Blue is dedicated to Marilynn Mair, superb mandolinist and teacher at Roger Williams College in Rhode Island, and her ensemble Enigmatica, a group of skilled mandolinists, amateur and professional, from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The music is inspired by folk music. The shape and tonalities of the melodies and the structure of the phrases remind me of our various ethnic musics, but nothing is explicitly derived from a particular culture.

The short first movement starts with an atmospheric tremolo and gradually intro-duces its syncopated, unevenly accented melody. The second movement recalls the augmented intervals of Middle Eastern music. The middle section, marked miste-rioso, starts as a dialog between the first mandolins and mandocello, until all join a unison climax, followed by a return to the more mellow music of the beginning.

The variations combine two tunes, a simple pentatonic phrase and a widely spaced languid bluesy tune. After several variations on the bluesy second tune, the penta-tonic tune from the introduction returns and energizes the languid quality of the other tune. The resulting energy propells the music forward until it really gallops along at the end. I sometimes describe it as duelling variations, but maybe it’s more that each tune eggs the other on in a complementary way.

Allegro gioioso q = 100-106

for mandolin octet

dedicated to Enigmatica

Loosely Blue

Copyright © 2004 Pamela J. Marshall

Pamela J. Marshall

I. Prelude

Mandolin 1

Mandolin II

Mandola

Mandocello

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II. Mirage

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III. Blue-Gold Variations

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Loosely Blue by Pamela J. MarshallNotesI. PreludeII. MirageIII. Blue-Gold VariationsSpindrift Music Company