Oldest Film Record Of Someone Playing Concertina

[david watkins]

Hi

 

I'm waiting for my first concertina to arrive, bought unseen on the web ( ah! there'll be tears I hear you all say, shame, after all we told him ), the Galotta I posted about a week or so ago...anyway I was visiting here now and again in my eager anticipation and wondered if anyone knew of, and where it could be viewed, the oldest film of someone playing a concertina...and the oldest recording of someone playing the concertina

 

Maybe the answer is already here on this site, but perhaps someone could point me in the right direction.

 

 

Thank you

 

David

[Daniel Hersh]

The oldest audio recordings I know of are the ones by Alexander Prince that can be found here. I've no idea of the oldest film.

 

Daniel

 

Hi

 

I'm waiting for my first concertina to arrive, bought unseen on the web ( ah! there'll be tears I hear you all say, shame, after all we told him ), the Galotta I posted about a week or so ago...anyway I was visiting here now and again in my eager anticipation and wondered if anyone knew of, and where it could be viewed, the oldest film of someone playing a concertina...and the oldest recording of someone playing the concertina

 

Maybe the answer is already here on this site, but perhaps someone could point me in the right direction.

 

 

Thank you

 

David

[Jody Kruskal]

The oldest audio recordings I know of are the ones by Alexander Prince that can be found here. I've no idea of the oldest film.

 

Daniel

 

... and here is a photo of the master himself.

[Dirge]

The Laurel and Hardy one was quite old but I don't think he was really playing, was he?

[rmerris]

The first concertinist to record was Percy Honri, concertina improvisation with piano accompniment: "Happy Darkies' (E. Berliner 9107, 1 October 1898). See Peter Honri, Working the Halls, pp. 140-43.

 

I do not have a copy of the recording.

[Dan Worrall]

Well done, Randy! I don't have anything that will even come close to that.

 

For movies, the oldest ones I know of are those that are in the WIlliam Kimber Cd/DVD from EFDSS....probably 1940s or 50s.

 

If David doesn't mind a little thread drift, and an extension of this game of trivial pursuit, how about two more questions:

 

What is the oldest image of a musician holding a concertina? Drawing or photo.

What is the oldest image of a band that included a concertina?

 

My entries would both be from an article on the brilliant concertinist/inventor David Edward Hughes, which I posted on my website (see below address) yesterday. Figure 1 shows him holding his English concertina in 1840, and Figure 2 shows him playing with the family band in 1845.

 

I know Regondi played the EC in the 1830s, but have not seen an image of him from those years holding one. I'd be delighted to see someone come in earlier than me on this!

 

Dan

[david watkins]

Hi

 

This is quite interesting, with so many concertinas having been made and it being such a popular intrument there should be plenty of photos and maybe bits of film around, or you would have thought.

 

The music halls must have seen lots of individuals or bands with concertina players, the Salvation Army had lots of players I believe, the concertinas popularity in Ireland and America as well as Europe, then the seafarers etc etc

 

If Regondi was playing in the 1830's that may be before photography was easily available.

 

Anyway any more contributions would be of interest and maybe some research if anyone has time.

 

Regards

 

David

 

 

 

 

 

[/size]

Well done, Randy! I don't have anything that will even come close to that.

 

For movies, the oldest ones I know of are those that are in the WIlliam Kimber Cd/DVD from EFDSS....probably 1940s or 50s.

 

If David doesn't mind a little thread drift, and an extension of this game of trivial pursuit, how about two more questions:

 

What is the oldest image of a musician holding a concertina? Drawing or photo.

What is the oldest image of a band that included a concertina?

 

My entries would both be from an article on the brilliant concertinist/inventor David Edward Hughes, which I posted on my website (see below address) yesterday. Figure 1 shows him holding his English concertina in 1840, and Figure 2 shows him playing with the family band in 1845.

 

I know Regondi played the EC in the 1830s, but have not seen an image of him from those years holding one. I'd be delighted to see someone come in earlier than me on this!

 

Dan

[Boney]

For movies, the oldest ones I know of are those that are in the WIlliam Kimber Cd/DVD from EFDSS....probably 1940s or 50s.

What about this Percy Honri film, from 1933? I believe it's been posted before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcI6FHp4Vg0

 

Every time I see that, I want to learn to play my duet free in the air...but it seems to sag down so much, I don't know how Percy does it! Are the straps quite tight, maybe?

[tony]

For movies, the oldest ones I know of are those that are in the WIlliam Kimber Cd/DVD from EFDSS....probably 1940s or 50s.

What about this Percy Honri film, from 1933? I believe it's been posted before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcI6FHp4Vg0

 

Every time I see that, I want to learn to play my duet free in the air...but it seems to sag down so much, I don't know how Percy does it! Are the straps quite tight, maybe?

 

I think the point is that with the larger duets the handles and hand straps are fairly close to the centres of the endplates which gives much better balance, therefore one is not trying to keep the front end up by tugging with the thumbs and pushing with the heel of the hands.

[Boney]

Every time I see that, I want to learn to play my duet free in the air...but it seems to sag down so much, I don't know how Percy does it! Are the straps quite tight, maybe?

I think the point is that with the larger duets the handles and hand straps are fairly close to the centres of the endplates which gives much better balance, therefore one is not trying to keep the front end up by tugging with the thumbs and pushing with the heel of the hands.

Ah! So I need a larger duet! I suppose there's no other remedy.

[rmerris]

Earlier in this thread, I mentioned Percy Honri's recording from the late 1890s. Elsewhere in this thread, Alexander Prince (1874-1928)--born Alexander Sutherland--is mentioned. Though Prince was extremely prolific as a recording artist, there were others who recorded--some probably before him. Dutch Daly recorded in 1904; John Hill Maccann recorded early; Jen Latona was mainly a singer but played at least one snippit of concertina on a recording; and Henri Albano, Jack Clevoner, Stephen Bartle, Walter Dale, and Will King may have recorded early. For information on these and other musical-hall concertinists in the US and UK, see Appendix II of my article: "Dutch Daly: Comedy and Concertinas on the Variety Stage," Papers of the Inernational Concertina Association (PICA), 4 (2007), 1-26, which will be posted at www.concertina.com in the near future. Also see Alan Day's new CD, English International, due for release in the near future.

 

I do not know of any concertina recordings in the US that pre-date the well-known Irish concertina recordings of William Mullaly. However, the Chemnitzer crowd might come up with something, if the search were extended to include Chemnitzer recordings. Joseph Cawthorn was a US-based concertinist who recorded as a popular vocalist but, to my knowledge, did not include his concertina playing on any of his recordings.

 

Other:

Tommy Elliott was probably the first concertinist on regular televison broadcasts (German TV in 1935 and British TV in 1936).

Tommy Elliott was probably the only concertinist to play a miniature concertina in a movie (The Password in Courage, 1962). Peter Honri played a regular concertina in the movie Oliver (1968), and used a miniature (inherited from grandfather Percy Honri), but only as a prop.

Much more on Tommy Elliott will be found in Viona Elliott Lane, Randall Merris, and Chris Algar, "Tommy Elliott and the Musical Elliotts," PICA, 5 (forthcoming 2008).

Edited April 10, 2008 by rmerris