St. Francis and the Birds (for mandolin quartet or ensemble) is a four part arrangement of a tune that I probably first wrote down sometime in the 1980s. It appears as melody with chords in the Contratopia Tunebook and I added a harmony part in 2012 and posted it to my So Many Tunes blog.

This version of the piece for mandolin ensemble came about because earlier in the summer of 2018 I created a four part version for SATB recorder ensemble and posted it to So Many Tunes. A friend in England asked about adapting it for mandolins and this is the result.

While I have written 25 or 30 pieces for mandolin orchestra (with more to come) I often hear from players who gather in smaller ensembles. I have arranged a number of short tunes (jigs, reels, waltzes, etc.) in other collections as trios with two mandolin parts and guitar chords. This piece, however, was written to accomodate a wider range of mandolin family options (including an option for guitarists who don't mind playing a single note line). The piece can played by 3 mandolins and an octave mandolin; or two mandolins, with a CGDA mandola replacing the third mandolin and a guitar, mandocello or octave mandolin playing the bottom part. Of course you are welcome to try any combination that works for your group.

As you can see I am presenting this sheet music under a Creative Commons License. My intention is to make it clear that you can use the written music for any non-commercial purpose as long as proper attribution is given.

John Goodin, July, 2018