The Mandiloquents

Music Society concerts are always hugely enjoyable, but the most recent one, on Saturday June18th, was also great fun. The mandolin, I’d always thought, was of a size that sat comfortably within the arm (rather like a cat, but more compliant), making quiet, plucked sounds that evoke old paintings of musicians in some peaceful room. Well, forget that. The largest mandolin was as big as a double bass, but with a generously swelling belly that made its lower half almost circular. The smaller one, admittedly, was cat-sized, quick and light in its range, and a classical guitar gave the trio a brio, as one might put it.

Simon Mayor, urbane, witty and very funny about the quirks of the Russian language, was the player of the normal, cat-sized mandolin and Gerald Garcia on guitar provided splendid harmonic stability, but by virtue of sheer size, the star of the show was the ‘mandobass’ or bass mandolin, played by Hilary James, who also turned out to have a lovely singing voice. Tuning a mandolin is tricky, as the instrument is double-strung so there must be perfect unison in each pair – but no hint of any technical difficulty was visible or audible, and the evening’s programme was fluent and varied as well as highly amusing. The programme was eclectic, ranging trans-world from Leroy Anderson to Brazil and from the Gaelic to the songs of India, and Simon’s own compositions were immensely enjoyable. Everyone had a thoroughly good time and the whole evening was both memorable and highly entertaining.

Alison Prince