Rich C R Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Just having a few idle thoughts and wondered what were the heyday years of English Concertina playing in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 (edited) Some would say the second half of the 19th century. Certainly had several great players / composers for the English Concertina. Reasearch on www.concertina.com will give information on people like Regondi and Blagrove. From a personal view I find the developement of the instrument, and the best ones were made between 1890 and 1930. From this I think one might look at players , and concertina bands, of the first half of the 20th Century. Some fine examples on the CD collection 'English International'. Edited March 17, 2019 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 15 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said: …... From a personal view I find the developement of the instrument, and the best ones were made between 1890 and 1930. From this I think one might look at players , and concertina bands, of the first half of the 20th Century. Some fine examples on the CD collection 'English International'. Geoff, With the Wheatstone Aeola, were their any beneficial changes (or otherwise) in construction between 1890 and 1930? Thanks for the info on the CD collection 'English International'. I have ordered it and waiting on delivery, should be with me by Fri this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 (edited) Rich, my sample of the Aeola is limited , even though I have owned a few of them over the years. A real historian will tell you exactly when the 8 sided Aeola began but sometime in the very early 1900's. The earliest I have owned was from 1908.. the latest were from 1927. All had very similar construction but some were in better condition than others which eventually led me to a belief that some periods are better than others. Whether my assumptions are correct , or not , I find each instrument must be judged against a personal standard and the work of the repairer is to try to bring an old instrument back to its best. I recall being at a loss to know why two almost identical instruments could produce such different results in playing. As time went on, during this 1890-1930 period, model developements were made; different keyboard layouts for instance which may have arrived in the catalogues due to a 'special' order that was successfull or 'as played by' an influential person. But the Depression of the 1930's followed by the war and changes in musical /social tastes and entertainments pretty much killed off the manufacture of fine concertinas. It was not until small numbers of young people started to look at the concertina due to influences from the Folk revival late in the 1960's that grandparent's old squeeze boxes were hunted out of the attics.That good instruments are still being discovered , 50 years on, is a testament to the quality of their manufacture. Edited March 18, 2019 by Geoff Wooff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 Thanks Geoff, its seems there are no easy answers as far as these instruments are concerned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Rich, IMO it should be considered that it's not about the best instrument, but the instrument that best suits you and your preferences, and will have been back then as well; regardless of we'd be talking about instruments of the same or a different period. A general consensus can't apply to the individuell instrument, and neither the individual player... Best wishes - ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Wolf Molkentin said: Rich, IMO it should be considered that it's not about the best instrument, but the instrument that best suits you and your preferences, and will have been back then as well; regardless of we'd be talking about instruments of the same or a different period. A general consensus can't apply to the individuell instrument, and neither the individual player... Best wishes - ? Thanks Wolf, I understand what you are saying. However, I just wondered, from a technical point, when was the last upgrade that is generally accepted as being an improvement to the instrument? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 I don't have the dates. However, there's not much generally accepted anyway I'm afraid. Riveted action, which any player would appreciate I guess, had been standard already in the 19th century. Tapered reed pans may be considered an improvement by many of us; Geoff might be able to give you an idea as to when it had been introduced. Others may be able to add more details which had been subject to development and improvement. Best wishes - ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 19, 2019 Author Share Posted March 19, 2019 19 hours ago, Wolf Molkentin said: I don't have the dates. However, there's not much generally accepted anyway I'm afraid. Riveted action, which any player would appreciate I guess, had been standard already in the 19th century. Tapered reed pans may be considered an improvement by many of us; Geoff might be able to give you an idea as to when it had been introduced. Others may be able to add more details which had been subject to development and improvement. Best wishes - ? Thanks Wolf. I guess there wasn't any so called major improvements during the period 1890-1930 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Another suggestion for you Rich, or anyone interested in the older generation of concertina players: Two Vinyl LP's remastered on to CD format: Gordon Cutty on EC and Tommy Williams on McCann duet. Originally recorded in the early 1970's when the two players were in their 80's These I highly recommend, comes on one CD from Free Reed Music, Belper DE56 1DD. UK. www.free-reed.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 19, 2019 Author Share Posted March 19, 2019 39 minutes ago, Geoff Wooff said: Another suggestion for you Rich, or anyone interested in the older generation of concertina players: Two Vinyl LP's remastered on to CD format: Gordon Cutty on EC and Tommy Williams on McCann duet. Originally recorded in the early 1970's when the two players were in their 80's These I highly recommend, comes on one CD from Free Reed Music, Belper DE56 1DD. UK. www.free-reed.co.uk Thanks Geoff, I already have this excellent CD, thoroughly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Nocera Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 On 3/18/2019 at 8:15 AM, Geoff Wooff said: But the Depression of the 1930's followed by the war and changes in musical /social tastes and entertainments pretty much killed off the manufacture of fine concertinas. I I wonder if it was the development of radio as much as the Great Depression that struck the blow to instruments like the concertina and the parlor piano. By 1930 radio was well entrenched as a source of musical entertainment with 12 million homes having radios. By 1940 that number had more than doubled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Indeed Frank, the Radio, it must have had a huge effect on home music making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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