Instrumentation: 2x Mandolins, Mandola, Mandocello

When my niece, Libby Muir, told me by phone from Sydney recently, she had learnt to play the mandolin and was now a member of the Sydney Mandolin Orchestra I was amazed. I said maybe I should attempt a short piece for a mandolin ensemble. She sent down a score and literature on the mandolin family. I’d always associated the instrument with earlier centuries in Europe. This resulting short piece, Little Serenade, attempts to convey, perhaps, a young lover serenading his lady friend in a European courtyard, á la Romeo and Juliet, even if only vaguely.