Op. 52 – Duo for Mandolin and Guitar

The Duo for Mandolin and Guitar by Mark G. Simon was written at the request of the Duo Ahlert & Schwab and completed in November, 2009. It is in one continuous movement with several contrasting episodes. For the most part, it is lively and rhythmic, drawing on the composer’s fondness for the rhythmic energy of American popular music. The harmonic content is derived almost entirely from a five-note set known in music theory jargon as 5-29, a sonority whose three perfect fifths allows for the possibility of three different harmonic roots. The music thus has the feeling of occupying an offshoot of traditional tonality in which the ear is being drawn in multiple directions at once.

The Duo Ahlert & Schwab gave the premiere performance of this work at the Gitarrenfest Bottrop in Bottrop Germany in November 2011. The work is scheduled to be published by Corvus Editions.