mandolin
Plucked string instrument which flourished 1600–1800. It has four to six pairs of strings (courses) and is tuned like a violin. The fingerboard is fretted to regulate intonation. It takes its name from its almond-shaped body (Italian mandorla ‘almond’). Vivaldi composed two concertos for the mandolin in about 1736.
The Neapolitan mandolin, a different instrument which appeared about 1750, is played with a plectrum and has metal strings. Composers for the Neapolitan mandolin include Beethoven, Hummel, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky in Agon (1955–57).
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