English Concertina

Directory

Resources in the Concertina Library for English concertina.

atlas-ladies The Victorian Concertina: Some Issues Relating to Performance
by Allan W. Atlas
Present-day players of the ‘English’ concertina must make a number of important decisions when delving into and performing the large repertory of art music that was written for the instrument in Victorian England. These decisions become especially critical for those who would perform the music in a manner that may at least approximate the way it may have sounded in the nineteenth century. Originally published in Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 3/2 (2006), 30 pages including photographs and musical examples. Briefly, there are three basic decisions to be made. The first two concern the choice of instrument: (1) modern instrument or period (Victorian) instrument; and (2) if the latter, what kind of instrument in terms of reeds (type of metal), tuning, structure of the bellows and number of buttons. The third decision, on the other hand, has to do with a fundamental question of playing technique: should we use three or four fingers of each hand?
Posted 15 November 2007
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atlas-ladies Ladies in the Wheatstone Ledgers: the Gendered Concertina in Victorian England, 1835–1870
by Allan W. Atlas
This study looks at the 978 women for whom there are 1,769 transactions—about 12% of the total—recorded in nine extant Wheatstone & Co. sales ledgers that list the firm’s day-to-day sales from April 1835 to May 1870. It is in two parts: (1) an Introduction, which analyses the data presented in the Inventory from a demographic-sociological point of view and places Wheatstone’s commerce with women into the context of its business activity as a whole; and (2) the Inventory (with three appendices), which lists every transaction for each of the 978 women, identifies as many of them as possible, and offers a miscellany of comments about both the women and the transactions. Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle v. 39 (2006). 239 pages. Briefly, the roster of Wheatstone’s female customers reads like a list of Victorian England’s rich-and-famous: the Duchess of Wellington and 146 other members of the titled aristocracy (more than twice as many as their male counterparts), the fabulously wealthy philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts, members of the landed gentry, and such mainstays of London’s musical life as the guitarist Madame R. Sidney Pratten, the organist Elizabeth Mounsey, and the contralto Helen Charlotte Dolby, as well as a large number of Professors of Concertina.
Posted 21 March 2007
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merris-marie-lachenal Marie Lachenal: Concertinist
by Faye Debenham and Randall C. Merris
New photographs, genealogical data, and information about Marie Lachenal, eldest of Louis Lachenal’s daughters, and about her family life as the wife of the photographer Edwin Debenham. First published in PICA [Papers of the International Concertina Association], Vol. 2 (2005), pp. 1–17. The web version adds large colour photographs and additional information which has been discovered since the text went to print.
Posted 15 November 2005
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blagrove-homepage Richard Blagrove
Directory
Concertina Library directory of all information on this website about Richard Blagrove.
Posted 15 November 2005
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gaskins-lachenal-sisters-edinburgh The Lachenal Sisters Visit Edinburgh, 1865–1866
by Robert Gaskins
At Christmas of 1865–1866, three young daughters of the late Louis Lachenal gave a series of concerts in Edinburgh introducing “concerted music” played on treble, tenor, and bass concertinas. We think this was also exactly the period when Lachenal & Co. had lost their contract to manufacture concertinas for Wheatstone, making it important to publicize Lachenal’s own brand. Based on clippings from The Scotsman newspaper, Edinburgh, notices of concerts and reviews, October 1865 through January 1866.
Posted 01 February 2005
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butler-the-concertina-tutor The Concertina: A Handbook and Tutor for Beginners on the English Concertina
by Frank E. Butler
The standard tutor for the English concertina during the concertina revival in the 1970s. Based on classes offered at the Battersea Institute under the auspices of the Inner London Education Authority. Introduction to music, exercises, and elementary tunes. Originally published by Neil Wayne at the Free Reed Press, Duffield, Derby, England, in 1974. 64pp plus covers. The scan was made by Wes Williams.
Posted 15 January 2005
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hayden-playing-chords Playing Chords [for English, Anglo, and Maccann Duet]
by Brian Hayden
"I would like to explain the system that I use when teaching players about chords, their structure, and placement. Chords are what I am most requested to explain at folk music workshops or gatherings as I tend to use chords a lot in my own playing." (From the introduction.) Includes a novel notation for chords which is used elsewhere on this website. As published in Concertina Magazine (Australia) in three parts, 12-14 (1985), 12:5-7, 13:12-14, and 14:8-10; with corrections in 15-16 (1986), 15:14 and 16:1,6,9.
Posted 01 March 2004
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chambers-annotated-catalogue An Annotated Catalogue of Historic European Free-Reed Instruments from my Private Collection
by Stephen Chambers
A very important paper describing nineteen instruments which illustrate key points in the development of European free-reed instruments, with large color photographs. This paper was presented at the 20th Musikinstrumentenbau-Symposium at Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein, held 19–21 November 1999, to coincide with an exhibition of the instruments. As Published in Harmonium und Handharmonika (Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte 62), edited by Monika Lustig, Michaelstein, 2002, pp. 181-194.
Posted 15 January 2004
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atlas-homepage Free-Reed Renaissance
by Allan Atlas
Directory of contributions by Allan Atlas.
Posted 15 August 2003
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atlas-regondis-golden-exercise Signor Alsepti and “Regondi’s Golden Exercise”
by Allan Atlas
Discussion and explanation with new fingering of a celebrated excercise from James Alsepti's English tutor, published by Lachenal c. 1895, with the explanation “The following exercise, which has never before been published, was taught to Signor Alsepti by Regondi. It is very difficult for all instruments, especially the Concertina, and to thoroughly master it with the correct fingering &c. will enable the Pupil to play passages in all keys.”. As published in Concertina World 426 supplement (2003) pp. 1-8.
Posted 22 December 2003
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chambers-lachenal-part1 Louis Lachenal: "Engineer and Concertina Manufacturer" (Part 1)
by Stephen Chambers
Discussion of the sources of information available about Louis Lachenal, his early career and immigration to England, and his involvement with the design and manufacturing engineering of Wheatstone & Co. concertinas up to the year 1848. As published in The Free-Reed Journal, Vol. 1 (1999), pp. 7-18. There is also a scanned copy of the original publication in PDF format.
Posted 15 January 2004
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chambers-lachenal-production Some Notes on Lachenal Concertina Production and Serial Numbers
by Stephen Chambers
New evidence for the role played by Louis Lachenal in the early manufacturing history of C. Wheatstone & Co., and some points of reference to use in seeking to date Lachenal concertinas. As published in PICA [Papers of the International Concertina Association], Vol. 1 (2004), pp. 3-23. Better-quality colour photographs from the author's originals have been substituted for those originally published.
Posted 01 January 2005
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christine-hawkes The Cult of the English Concertina: a Chat with Miss Christine Hawkes
by Norman Fraser
Informative interview with Christine Hawkes who in 1907 had given successful concertina concerts in the West End of London. Miss Hawkes has been “inundated with … shoals of letters from people anxious to learn the concertina,” and she gives a number of practical tips on buying a concertina and on practising. She recommends “the English concertina as patented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1829,” … “as distinguished from the cheap German atrocities with which Bank Holidays make us all too familiar.” Miss Hawkes “was lucky enough at the beginning to come across a copy of Regondi’s ‘Concertina Exercises,’ but whether this work is published now she does not know.” Contributed by Stuart Eydmann. First published in Cassell's Magazine, June 1908 to November 1908, pp. 159–161.
Posted 26 March 2007
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thoumire-technique Playing the English Concertina—My Technique
by Simon Thoumire
Scottish concertinist Simon Thoumire discusses his unique approach to playing the English concertina, based on holding the instrument so it is rotated 45 degrees from the conventional position. This allows his fingers to play across the columns of an English concertina, taking advantage of the uniform reach possible to left and right and avoiding the need to stretch for far notes or curl the fingers for near notes in the traditional way.
Posted 15 August 2005
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merris-bibliography Instruction Manuals for the English, Anglo, and Duet Concertina: An Annotated Bibliography
by Randall C. Merris
A comprehensive bibliography with more than 200 citations for concertina tutors that were published from the 1840s to the present. Separate sections deal with English, Anglo, and Duet tutors. The annotations contain considerable historical material on concertina makers, authors and teachers, performers, and publishers in the UK, US, and elsewhere. The web version incorporates citations for tutors that have appeared or were located subsequent to the original publication (about 35 more by 2005) and adds over 100 scanned photographs of tutor covers. A number of the tutors are available scanned in full on this website, and these are indicated in the entries. The original publication was in The Free-Reed Journal 4 (2002): 85-118, and a PDF version of the printed article is also available online.
Posted 01 April 2003; last updated 31 August 2005
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» read Part 1, "English Concertina"
» read part 2, "Anglo Concertina"
» read part 3, "Duet Concertina"
» read original article (without updates) in pdf"
cawdell-a-short-account-trans A Short Account of the English Concertina, … by W. Cawdell (1865)
by Robert Gaskins
A full transcription of the booklet published by William Cawdell in 1865 in which he attempts to recommend all the advantages of the new English Concertina providing some history, some opinions about contemporary performers, and some record of press reaction to the instrument. Allan Atlas has provided two contemporary reviews of Cawdell’s efforts. This transcription is based on two copies of the booklet, one in the New York Public Library (“1865”) and the other in the British Library (“1866”). These appear to be two printings of the same type with an altered title page. Links are provided to PDF scanned versions of both original documents.
Posted 15 January 2005; updated 15 September 2005
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» 1865 (N. Y. Public Library), full document in PDF
» 1866: (British Library), full document in PDF
wheatstone-pricelist-1848-C824 “The Concertina, A New Musical Instrument”
by Wheatstone & Co.
Promotional brochure and price list, dated 1848. 2 pages. This copy is in the collection of the Horniman Museum, no. C824.
Posted 15 January 2004
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wheatstone-music-1848-C823 “Music for the Concertina”
by Wheatstone & Co.
Catalogue of printed music (January 1848, dated 1848. 2 pages. This copy is in the collection of the Horniman Museum, no. C823.
Posted 15 January 2004
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wheatstone-patent-1829 Improvements in the Construction of Wind Musical Instruments (1829)
by Charles Wheatstone
British Patent No. 5803 of 1829, Specification (19 December 1829) with forty-five figures. 10 pages. "Improvements in the Construction of Wind Musical Instruments". The first of the Wheatstone patents to show a concertina, even though the word is not used in this specification.
Posted 15 November 2001
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wheatstone-patent-1844 Improvements in the Action of the Concertina, &c. by Vibrating Springs (1844)
by Charles Wheatstone
British Patent No. 10041 of 1844, Specification (7 August 1844) with eighteen figures. 24 pages. "Improvements in the Action of the Concertina, &c. by Vibrating Springs". The most important of the concertina patents, establishing the characteristic features of the English concertina.
Posted 15 November 2001
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wheatstone-patent-1861 Improvements in Concertinas, &c. (1861)
by William Wheatstone
British Patent No. 2289 of 1861, Provisional Specification (14 September 1861) and Specification (14 March 1862) with thirty-three figures. 38 pages. "Improvements in Concertinas, &c.". Improvements on the preceding concertina patents, including a duet arrangement which reappears eighty years later in one of the "Wheatstone Edeophones".
Posted 15 November 2001
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pricelists-wheatstone-english Wheatstone English Concertina Pricelists
collected by Chris Algar
Most of these pricelists were found in old concertina cases. From internal evidence it is possible to date the lists c. 1915 to c. 1965 (plus one very early pricelist dated 1848, from the collection of the Horniman Museum, and a list published as an advertisement in a trade directory in 1859). These lists contain information about Wheatstone model numbers and descriptions which are useful to interpret the Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers. See also Duet pricelists from Wheatstone. See also Anglo pricelists from Wheatstone.
Posted 15 May 2003
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lachenal-sig-wheatstone-concertina-ledgers Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers
Directory
Historical business records of C. Wheatstone & Co. from the Horniman Museum in London. Earlier ledgers from the Wayne Archives contain company sales records from the late 1830s to the 1860s along with production records from the 1860s to the 1890s and some early records of wages and other payments. Later ledgers from the Dickinson Archives contain production records from 1910 to 1974. All surviving ledgers have been digitized (some 2,300 pages in total) and made available free on the web for private research. The same material is also available to buy on an inexpensive CD. Includes an introduction to the project by Margaret Birley, Keeper of Musical Instruments at the Horniman Museum, and an article by Robert Gaskins describing in detail how the ledgers were digitized.
Posted 15 June 2003; Updated 15 June 2005
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regondi Wheatstone, His Sighing Reed, and The Great Regondi
Presented by Bernard Richardson
BBC programme on the history and music of the English concertina, focusing on its inventor Sir Charles Wheatstone and the first concertina virtuoso Giulio Regondi. In addition to the presenter, Bernard Richardson, the program features (in order of appearance) Allan Atlas, Neil Wayne, Brian Bowers, Alistair Anderson, Douglas Rogers, Jenny Cox, and Dave Townsend. BBC Radio4 programme broadcast 27 November 2007. Includes links to audio files of the entire programme in WMA format and MP3 format.
Posted 27 November 2007
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very early Wheatstone English concertina
Very early (1830s) English
concertina by Wheatstone,
showing exterior air-valves
concealed in later models

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