allan atlas

DOUG AND FOLKS: it's probably an unanswerable question. . . . .that Regondi probably "suffered" somewhat -- at least from a historical perspective -- because he played concertina and guitar can hardly be doubted. . . . . . .on the other hand: had he played piano and written for the instrument with the same skill as he did both things on concertina and guitar, he might simply have been just "another" pianist and piano composer. . . . . on the other hand: bear in mind what the curmudgeonly critic Henry Fothergill Chorley said about Regondi. . . .that it was a pity that a person with his talent should WASTE it on the poverty of the guitar and the even greater poverty of the concertina. . . . . .i even had someone say to me many years ago: too bad you don't play the violin that well. . . . . . my own sense of it: as a composer Regondi has probably fared better for having written for the guitar (let's forget the concertina works -- they're pretty much forgotten). . . . . .to be honest. . . .he's not the greatest composer in the world. . . . .and i personally find his big concertina works rather thin from the point of view of creativity. . . . .yet as Douglas demonstrated. . . . .they can really "wow" an audience. . . .especially an audience that doesn't expect notes to come flying out of the instrument like that. . . . . . anyway: thanks for the kind words about the concert. . . . happy to hear that you enjoyed it. . . . . .Allan

FOLKS: just a very brief footnote to one of Dave's comments: Regondi was certainly performed by contemporary concertinists. . . .we know that Blagrove performed his music, as did Isabelle Dulcken, who actually performed "Les Oiseaux" at a concert in Munich (and likely kept playing it when she performed in St. Petersburg and Moscow). . . . .one assumes that Signor Alsepti also played it. . . . .and thanks to Randy's research, we know that Marie Lachenal played the "Serenade". . . . . .i'm sure Douglas could add other instances to this off-the-top-of-the-head list.................

DAVE AND FOLKS: first, a thank you to Perry and Dave for their kind words. . . . .it was an INTERESTING evening. . . . one that illustrated various sides of Regondi as a composer. . . .there was general agreement that it was interesting to hear his extroverted, virtuoso side as played by Douglas, along with his very different, far more intimate approach in adapting the obbligato parts to the songs. . . . . .I think everyone was impressed with Alex Dunn's virtuosity in the guitar pieces. . . . .and finally, there was that juxtaposition of the original guitar version and the piano adaptation of the Nocturne. . . .this may well have been the first time that they were ever performed on the same program. . . .at least there is no record of such even during Regondi's time. . . . . why did his music fall through the cracks. . . . .two reasons, i think: (1) although the classical guitar tradition is "continuous" from Regondi's time, the music was simply judged too difficult to play. . . .only recently has it begun to re-enter the guitarists' repertory. . . . (2) as for the concertina: two reasons--(a) it is murderously difficult (at least the big show pieces), and ( the concertina itself, the "English" included, simply "changed directions". . . .and the entire victorian repertory fell into oblivion. . . . it was, then, the main purpose of the program to bring Regondi's music back to life in a live concert setting. . . . .pity that the audience was small and that so few "English" players took the opportunity to hear something of the history of their instrument.......................Allan

DAVID AND FOLKS: I'm sorry that, unlike past events, this time around there will NOT be either a pre-concert reception or a follow-up workshop the next day. This all has to do both with logistics at the Graduate Center that weekend and with my own personal schedule. Sorry.........but hope some of you will turn out to hear Douglas (who's pretty amazing) and the rest of the cast.....................there's some wonderful music. . . .and i would imagine that this will be the only time that both the guitar music and the concertina music of Regondi are offered together at a live concert..................it's not the everyday kind of thing..........Allan

FOLKS: Douglas and I will be doing the Traviata excerpts on two trebles. As I noted, we had hoped to have an ensemble of two trebles and a baritone (or bass), but unfortunately that proved to be impossible. As for the continuation of the "Great Regondi" CDs: I honestly have no idea. I suppose Douglas is the person to ask................... And yes, Verdi was a pretty good tunesmith!............Germont's "Di Provenza" and the entire scene that follows with Violetta is one of my favorite operatic fifteen minutes (approximately). . . . . . . . . . Allan

MARK, JIM, CHRIS, ET AL.: As it turns out, the Act I "Libiam'" is not one of the selections. Regondi turned out four books of selections devoted to Traviata and Trovatore. Perhaps that number is in one of the other books (I honestly don't know). The numbers that we're doing: Germont's "Di Provenza" and (with chorus) "Dov'è mio figlio", Violetta's "Addio del passato," the duet (Violetta and Alfredo) "Parigi, o cara," and "Dio, morir sì giovine." Regondi also wrote a part for the bass (or baritone) concertina, and we had originally planned on including that, but circumstances forced us to drop it. As for recordings: we will be videotaping, and I would be happy to make it available as long as all the participants agree. Some of you will remember that our 2002 concert in honor of Wheatstone's birthday ran into a snag on that score (as it did on clearing copyrights). We'll see what happens. Finally, I'd be more than happy to send anyone who wants to see it a copy of the program (there's an embarrassing typo, but. . .). I don't know how to add an attachment to this posting. Allan

FOLKS (especially those within striking distance of New York): just a reminder that The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments at the CUNY Graduate Center will present VIVA REGONDI on Friday, March 17th, at 7:30 P.M. The concert is devoted entirely to the music of Giulio Regondi, both for concertina and guitar. The concertinists are Douglas Rogers and Allan Atlas, the guitarist, Alexander Dunn. Among the highlights of the program: Douglas playing some of Regondi's most finger-twisting pieces, a set of pieces for voice, concertina, and piano, back-to-back performances of Regondi's Nocturne, first in its original version for guitar, then in D'Alquen's transcription for solo piano, and the rousing finale of Regondi's arrangement of selections from La Traviata for two concertinas and piano. For ticket information: continuinged@gc.cuny.edu OR (212) 817-8215. Allan

GOOD FOLKS: see. . . .i have the honor of killing both this discussion and the one on concertinas and sailing ships. . . .it's magic. . . . . .allan

FOLKS: more precisely: the whaling museum to which i refer is in a little town called COLD SPRING HARBOR. . . . .nothing like digging through the sources themselves. . . . . .and nothing like one of my replies to kill the conversation. . . . .

FOLKS: please note that volume 4 of PICA will include a nice article on Salvation Army concertinas by Les Branchett..........Allan

FOLKS: one of the things i hope to do upon finishing up my Ladies project (very soon) is spend a bit of time at the wonderful little Whaling Museum just outside Huntington, on the north shore of long island. . . .among the holdings in the library there are log books and diaries of sailing vessels from the nineteenth century. . . . .who knows..........allan

DEAR JIM: sorry. . . . .the last one passed away in 1912...................allan

FOLKS: nothing like one of my replies to end a conversation. . . . . . .oh well. . . . it was beginning to "wander" a bit...............allan

DEAR DANIEL: Wheatstone's turned out instruments with 24 buttons. . . .in fact, they turned them out with as few as twenty-two buttons...........if i remember correctly (i'm doing this off the top of my head), they were still being advertised in Wheatstone's 1859 price list...............you can find that on concertina.com.............allan

FOLKS: i would add one more note to my reply of the other day. . . . . .it has to do with the equating of playing the concertina as one of the "accomplishments" of a well-bred young lady. . . . . . . the following is from THE TIMES, 26 July 1860 (p. 4): EDUCATION (superior) for YOUNG LADIES: inclusive terms 40 guineas a year. -- In an old-established finishing school, of high standing, conducted by a lady of talent, assisted by English and foreign governesses and eminent masters daily for all accomplishments [my italics). The instruction comprehends all the higher branches of English, modern languages, piano, singing, concertina [my italics], guitar, drawing, dancing, and calisthenics. The domestic arrangements are on a most liberal scale. The residence is a spacious mansion, delightfully situate, with extensive garden, and the locality not to be surpassed for salubrity. Address A.B. 9, Stanley-gardens, Kensignton-park. there are any number of other such adverts.................Allan

DEAR BILL: in fact, i mention your first point in the article. . . . .who knows how many of the instruments purchased by men ended up in the hands of wives, daughters, and sisters . . . .there is simply no way of knowing. . . . . .in other words: that 12% is the bottom line, the percentage of transactions that refer explicitly to women. . . . . . as for the percentage of non-dealer males: i simply do not know. . . . . .and i skirt around that in the article, noting only that the majority of males named are not dealers. . . .though since the dealers usually bought in bulk, the ratio of non-dealer males named to dealers is NOT equal to the number of concertinas sold to male non-dealers as opposed to those sold to dealers. . . . .NOW THAT WAS CLUMSY.............. all in all, it's an absolutely fascinating tale that the ledgers tell. . . . . . . . .among the women: the duchess of wellington and lady emily bulteel (great X2 grandmother of the late Princess Diana). . . . .what was most surprising, at least to me, is the number of professional women musicians who were NOT primarily concertinists who are mentioned in the ledgers. . . . .thus there are professional singers and pianists. . . . .a number of them quite well-known mainstays of the london concert scene. . . . . .indeed, many of them appeared on stage together with regondi, blagrove, and case. . . . . . one supposes that they at least dabbled with the instrument. . . . . .still another surprise: the number of women who were Professors of both concertina and GUITAR. . . . .in fact, the concertina and guitar circles often intersected. . . .perhaps Regondi was the model. . . . . .in any event, both the duchess of wellington and lady john somerset were part of both circles, their magnet being Catherina Josepha Pelzer, who played both instruments. . . . . still another noteable thing: the many instances of what are obviously husbands and wives both buying instruments. . . . .in other words: transactions for a Mr. and Mrs. with the same surname in very close chronological proximity. . . . .also mothers and daughters. . . . .and whole trios of Mr, Mrs, and Miss. . . . . in addition: about 150 titled women. . . . .from duchesses down to plain own Lady. . . . . .finally, on average, women spent a bit more on their instruments than did men. . . . . . one can also start to construct teacher/student relationships. . . . .as the ledgers will sometimes say something like: Case for Miss so-and-so. . . . . .or the main entry is for Mrs. X, with an annotation that mentiones Blagrove. . . .and that these do in fact point to student-teacher relationships can often be confirmed through the dedications of pieces by those guys to those women. . . . .and so on and so on. . . . . at any rate, i hope to finish it up within the next two or three months. . . . . . .and then to submit it to the journal that i mentioned. . . . . .i would hope that they would permit it to be posted on concertina.com...................allan

that's "outweighs"............sorry...............Allan

FOLKS: i knew there was one other point that i wished to make. . . . .sorry that i forgot to make it the first time around. . . . . someone said that Regondi was more famous in his own day as a guitarist than he was as a concertinist. . . . .this is arguable. . . . .there is a mid-century review by the curmudgeonly critic of THE ATHANAEUM, Henry Fothergill Chorley. . . . he writes that Regondi gave up the "poverty" of the guitar for the even "greater poverty" of the concertina. . . . . .in addition, Regondi's own output for the concertina far outweights in number his output for the guitar. . . . . . in any event, it's fair to say that he left a "legacy" on NEITHER instrument. . . . . .he was quickly forgotten. . . . . .allan

FOLKS: that's an awful lot of stuff to cut through. . . . .so let me pick and choose. . . . . (1) there is a vast repertory that calls specifically for the English concertina. . . .the repertory that was written for it during the 19th century. . . . . . .that repertory is varied with respect both to quality and to the technical demands that it makes. . . . . .why there is such resistance to looking at it i will never understand. . . . . .i would think that those interested in the concertina "as an instrument" would at least give the stuff an occasional whirl. . . . . .moreover, the music is now quite accessible through the ICA library (one no longer has to deal with the British Library). . . . . .i might also add that there are some pretty good pieces written for the instrument during the last twenty or so years. . . . .Alistair Anderson's ON CHEVIOT HILLS comes to mind. . . .and there are two very good pieces by the late Oliver Hunt and the russian-american composer Alla Borzova. . . .the latter has been published by Wim Wakker's Concertina Connection. . . . . (2) i really do not think that the concertina was conceived primarily as a "substitute" for the violin. . . . .though it certainly can play a sizeable portion of the violin repertory. . . .in fact, that was one of the 19th-century manufacturers' standard "leitmotifs". . . . .that the concertina could make that repertory (and that for certain wind instruments) accessible to those who had neither the time nor the talent to learn those other instruments. . . . .the main pitch here being that the concertina was a "fixed pitch" instrument. . . . .it played in tune all by itself. . . . . . (3) as for the women. . . . .i have been working on this topic for the last three years. . . . .and i've just about completed an article entitled "Ladies in the Wheatstone Ledgers: The Gendered Concertina in Victorian England, 1835-1870", which i intend to submit to the RESEARCH CHRONICLE of the Royal Musical Association before this current semester (how i measure time) is out. . . . . .quickly: the wheatstone sales ledgers record more than 15,000 transactions. . . .of these, i count 1,798 that refer to women. . . . .and these in turn refer to 978 different women. . . . . .all told, the women account for approximately 12% of the transactions. . . .now that has to be qualified. . . . .for instance, we cannot tell how many instruments that were bought in bulk by other instrument dealers ended up in the hands of women. . . . . . so the percentage of concertinists who were women could be somewhat higher . . . .in addition, we know that some women concertinists are not included in the ledgers. . . . .perhaps they played instruments made by others (the Lachenal sisters for example). . . . perhaps they purchased instruments from other dealers. . . . .it's hard to say. . . . .i provide a list of twenty-seven such women, all but one of whom either performed publically or taught the instrument (there are notices about their performances in the press. . .there are advertisements for the teaching services). . . . . . (4) the sales pitch to women consisted of the following: (a) the instrument was easily portable; ( it was relatively easy to learn (at least in the beginning); and © it provided women with the opportunity to play music written for the violin and flute, instruments that were otherwise off limits to them until the 1870s (the violin) and 1880s/90s (flute). . . .and if they had a "consort" of instruments, they could even play the likes of Haydn and Mozart quartets (then never mention Beethoven in that respect, though the Regondi, Blagrove, Case, Sedgwick Quartet played him). . . . . . . (5) there are some really fine English players around today. . . . .among whom there are at least three who more or less "specialize" in the victorian repertory: Douglas Rogers (who will be performing in New York on March 17th. . . at the CUNY GRADUATE CENTER. . . in our VIVA REGONDI concert -- sorry, had to plug our concert, especially since ticket sales are moving at a crawl). . . .Wim Wakker. . . . .and i hope that i might even include myself in that company. . . . . . well, as i said: i picked and i "choosed". . . . .allan

FOLKS: see also the last issue of PICA. . . it's in the hands of all ICA members. . . .we'll get it online as quickly as possible. . . . .article by Harry Scurfield...........Allan

FOLKS: just a brief note to let everyone know that PICA, vol. 2 (that is, PAPERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONCERTINA ASSOCIATION), should be in the hands of at least most members by now (though i still await my own copy). . . . . there are articles by Randy Merris and Faye Debenham on Marie Lachenal, Tom Tonen on acoustics, Harry Scurfield on the concertina in South Africa; there is a Matusewitch bibliography by Eric Matusewitch; a review-essay by Roger Digby, and new installments of The Picture Gallery and Historical Document. . . . . . we will try to get the electronic version posted as quickly as possible. . . . this appears on the websites of the ICA and the Free-Reed Center: www.concertina.org and web.gc.cuny.edu/freereed, respectively . . . . . . note that Randy's article has already been posted on concertina.com note that we welcome informative, well-written contributions.................Allan P.S.: volume 3 is already in the works. . . .it will feature an article by Gearóid O'hAllmhuráin on the concertina in the Irish tradition, along with an article by Susan Wollenberg on Regondi's concerts at Oxford in the mid-19th century. . . . .there will also be a review-essay by Roger Digby that deals with the recently released ANGLO INTERNATIONAL...................

FOLKS: there is another factor that must be considered: not only will triads (thus with thirds) sound harsh or not harsh on the concertina depending on the temperament, but one should consider the "voicing" of the chords. . . . . .my own ear finds tightly spaced chords terribly offensive. . . . .they're much "sweeter" when played in an "open" position. . . . . . .look at the music of Regondi. . . . .his ear was right on the mark..............allan

FOLKS: to add to what Stephen said about the concertina-guitar relationship: a number of women who are listed in the Wheatstone ledgers and known to have been "professional" concertinists were also guitarists. . . .they are listed in various issues of the Musical Directory, Register and Almanack as "Professors" of both concertina and guitar. . . .off the top of my head. . . . Catherina Josepha Pelzer (later Madame R. S. Pratten) and a Mrs Arthur Stone come to mind. . . .as does Elizabeth Mounsey, who was best known as an organist at St. Peter's, Cornhill. . . . .also listed in the Wheatstone ledgers is a Madame Panormo, certainly a member of that famous guitar-making family. . . . also in the ledgers: the Duchess of Wellington and Lady John Somerset, both of whom were patronesses of Miss Pelzer in the early days of her career. . . . .REMEMBER: women had fairly few options in terms of the instruments that were available to them. . . .there was the piano, harp, guitar, and concertina. . . . . .there are many intersections between the concertina and guitar circles..................allan

PAUL: thanks for the note about the Barbieri article. . . .i can get hold of that easily enough. . . . . by the way: the very next issue of Early Music (due out in november or early december) will have my article about an emendation that i believe is necessary in the text of Regondi's Serenade. . . .and i use the 41-cent difference between D sharp and E flat as the basis of the emendation. . . . .would be interested to get your reaction.......Allan

I agree that the choice of temperament may be dictated by the repertory played. . . . .mine is mainly the Victorian classical repertory for the "English". . . . and it means playing with a piano most of the time. . . . . .so equal -- or something close enough to it (in my own case, Young's No. 2) -- is probably best. . . . . in fact, one could make a case for Young's No. 2 also being every bit as much suited for the English country dance repertory. . . . .bear in mind, that England was rather late in adopting equal temperament. . . . .the Broadwood piano firm (the largest in England) did not adopt EQ as its standard until the mid-1840s). . . . .prior to that time, it's likely that the various "well"-temperaments (and these are not meantone temperaments) prevailed. . . . .there are two very good essays about just this by a fellow named Alexander Mackenzie of Ord in THE JOURNAL OF BRITISH ORGAN STUDIES. . . . one article is from 1979 (i think), the other from the '90s. . . . . . there is also a fascinating document drawn up in the late 18th c. by the violinist Gemignani (i think he was the one). . . . .it shows the neck of the violin and the four strings running along its length. . . . .then it shows where to place the fingers for the various notes (and does so "in scale", so to speak). . . . .what is very clear from the places at which one should put one's fingers is this: G. is not describing EQ. . . . . .if anyone wants to know where all of this is. . .. .let me know, and i'll post it. . . .would have to dig it up...........allan