ETYM French mandoline, Italian mandolino, dim. of mandola, from Latin pandura. Related to Bandore.
Plucked string instrument with four to six pairs of strings (courses), tuned like a violin, which flourished 1600–1800.
It takes its name from its almond-shaped body (Italian mandorla “almond”). Vivaldi composed two concertos for the mandolin about 1736.
The Neapolitan mandolin, a different instrument which appeared about 1750, is played with a plectrum and has metal strings. Composers include Beethoven, Hummel, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky in Agon 1955–57.
A stringed instrument related to the lute, usually played with a plectrum. + prikaži više