The Styrous® Viewfinder: San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra ~ Mission Impossible

May 28, 2019

San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra ~ Mission Impossible

This past weekend I had a chance to catch the San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra perform at the Mission Dolores Chapel. The SFMO is a plucked string orchestra with 15-25 members playing instruments of the mandolin family (mandolin, mandola and mandocello), as well as guitar, viola da gamba and double bass.

It was an exciting event for me on several levels. For one thing, it is the last Catholic school I'd attended when I was a kid and I hadn't been inside the mission for decades. I'd forgotten how beautiful it is (link below).

For another, a friend of mine was performing with the group. He plays an amazing range of instruments but on this day he played his liuto cantabile, an uncommon ten-stringed mandocello, a bass variant of the mandolin family.

Dennis Hunt with his liuto cantabile

The program was entitled, Wind; normally the group performs using only mandolins; this program included a flute and a clarinet.

And the program held some pleasant surprises for me. The group performed a transcription of the Respighi work, Ancient Airs and Dances from his Third Suite. The work is normally arranged for string orchestra. It is based on lute songs by Besard, a piece for baroque guitar by Ludovico Roncalli, lute pieces by Santino Garsi da Parma and additional anonymous composers. So, basically it was a lute and guitar work rearranged for string orchestra that has become the norm but here it was transcribed back again to its original presentation; talk about coming full cycle and very nicely done.

The other surprise was a cover of the King Crimson song, I Talk To the wind, transcribed for voice and mandolin orchestra. it was sung by Sean Gugler with vocal accompaniment by orchestra leader Achille Bocus (links below).