Wishes

“Wishes” was written in early 2013 for my wife, Stefanie Acquavella-Rauch. It was my love letter to Stefanie when we were dating. “Wishes” is filled with all the excitement, passion, romance, anticipation and joy of a young couple in love. Both mandolin parts are evenly written. This piece requires good right hand cross string picking technique. The beginning section opens with a minimalist pattern, which the 2nd mandolin will shift to create different rhythms and chord tones. Emphasis should be on the high B (E string), for both performers, to help the audience hear the shifting pattern. The accompaniment part is a chord shape that moves up and down the neck of the instrument. The performers should be careful to let as many notes sustain as possible to create a full sound for the melody line to float above. The middle section at measure 100 should be gentle and free, almost improvised. Mandolin 1 should improvise the chords written from measures 100–108. This can be a soft strumming pattern or as an arpeggiated chord. At measure 109, the first mandolin needs to tremolo the written chord using the flesh of their thumb or the side of the plectrum. It should be a soft gentle brushing sound across the strings, like the ocean breeze lightly caressing the sand on the beach. Measures 185-194 should be played very evenly with attention to the accented notes by both musicians. This will bring out the conversation between the two parts.