History of Concertinas
Directory
Resources in the Concertina Library for concertina history.
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A Brief History of the Anglo Concertina in the United States
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by Dan Worrall
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In the United States the Anglo-German concertina was very popular during the middle and late
nineteenth century, but by the early twentieth century it had all but vanished from American popular
culture, becoming only a Hollywood symbol of “the old days”.
After the revival of interest in traditional music and in concertinas from the 1960s the Anglo has
once again had some popularity in the United States, but without connection to any tradition of its
earlier widespread use in America. This paper attempts to reconstruct a basic history
of the Anglo concertina in the U.S. by using nineteenth-century tutors, newspaper mentions,
anecdotes from family histories, and archival photographs.
Topics discussed include the early use of German concertinas in the Eastern U.S.,
the use of Anglo concertinas by Mormon and other western pioneers, use during the War Between the States,
use by African-Americans, use in nautical contexts, use by immigrant and other ethnic groups, and
use by the American branch of the Salvation Army. Some previously unpublished photographs are included.
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Posted 15 April 2007
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Notes on the Beginnings of Concertina Playing in Ireland, 1834–1930
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by Dan Worrall
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Although the Irish are known for their long folk memory, the story of how of concertina
playing began there has been largely lost; it is often tagged to a threadbare tale of
mariners bringing them up the Shannon estuary to Clare. This paper reconstructs its history
by using period accounts from newspapers, books and family histories to document the social
gatherings where it was played, and the vendors who sold it. The Anglo-German concertina was
enormously popular all across Ireland during its heyday, amongst people of nearly all social and
economic groups.
The concertina is a much-favored instrument in County Clare, Ireland, and
a few players there bridge the gap in time between the instrument’s heyday in the
late nineteenth/early twentieth century and the current revival, which began in the 1970s.
Its later concentration in Clare was not a result of how it arrived, but
of local cultural and economic factors that aided its barest survival there while it was
completely dropped—and all but forgotten—elsewhere in the country.
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Posted 15 November 2007
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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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Historic Concertina Patents
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Directory
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A portfolio of full copies of
nine historic concertina patents. Includes the
early Wheatstone English patents, Maccann's Duet patent, Jones's Anglo patent,
the Crane Duet patent, Kaspar Wicki's patent for the Wicki-Hayden system, and Brian
Hayden's much later patent for the same system. Includes:
C. Wheatstone 1829; C. Wheatstone 1844; Wm. Wheatstone 1861; Maccann 1884;
Jones 1885; Alsepti and Ballinger 1885; Butterfield 1896; Wicki 1896; Hayden 1986.
None of these patents has any current force, all have either lapsed or been abandoned.
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Posted 15 December 2004
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The Concertina History Resource
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by Wes Williams
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This site (still early in its development) contains historical
information about concertinas and concertina makers. A timeline
helps to organize information about the changes of name and address
among the major makers as bits of data are discovered. One
use for this information is to help in answering the question “when
was my concertina made?” which is very difficult to answer
for most makers.
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Posted 15 February 2003
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» go to website
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The Wheatstone English Concertina
- by Neil Wayne
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Survey article covering the Wheatstone English Concertina, the only
published source for much of Neil Wayne's path-breaking research.
As published in The Galpin Society Journal 44 (1991), 117-149. (The
online version does not yet perfectly match the printed version.)
- Posted 01 January 2005
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» go to website
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The Life and Times of the Concertina:
the adoption and usage of a novel musical instrument
with particular reference to Scotland
- by Stuart Eydmann
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This much-anticipated study is the first book-length account of the history and
development of the concertina, in the context of the people who played it and their
music. It is based on field work as well as historical research,
and deals with the concertina in traditional music, art music, sacred music,
band music, the music hall, and many forms of popular
music—reflecting the richness, contradictions, and complexities of
music and society over the more than 150 years since the invention
of the concertina as the high-tech sensation of its day.
Twelve chapters, bibliography of more than 400 items, over 90 figures and musical examples, 365 pages.
Text of thesis for the Ph.D. degree, Open University, 1995.
Supervisors: Dr Peter Cooke and Dr Richard Middleton.
- Posted 15 August 2005
- » read full document
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The Cult of the English Concertina: a Chat with Miss Christine Hawkes
- by Norman Fraser
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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
- » read full document in pdf
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The Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961
- by British Pathe Newsreels
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Concertinas are made and played at a
factory in Islington, 03 April 1961.
From newsreel "Colour Pictorial 327", 1961, Pathe Film ID 137.02.
Available for free preview at reduced quality at the British Pathe website.
Original title: "Concertina Factory
(aka Concert in a Factory)".
- Posted 01 January 2005
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» go to website
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The Concertina Man
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Presented by Peter Day,
Produced by Neil Koenig
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BBC programme on the history and music of the concertina,
focusing on its inventor Sir Charles Wheatstone as a somewhat belated
recognition of his bicentenary in 2002. In addition to the presenter, Peter Day,
the program features (in order of appearance)
Bob Gaskins, Brian Bowers, Margaret Birley, Stephen Chambers,
Frank James, Douglas Rogers, Sean Minnie, and Steve Dickinson. The program
was produced by Neil Koenig.
BBC World Service programme broadcast 07 September 2004.
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Posted 22 November 2004
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The Lachenal Sisters Visit Edinburgh, 1865–1866
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by Robert Gaskins
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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.
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Posted 01 February 2005
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Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers
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Directory
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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.
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Posted 15 June 2003; Updated 15 June 2005
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Serial Number and Date Indexes to the Wheatstone Ledgers
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Directory
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Indexes listed on this page contain serial numbers and dates from
the Wheatstone Ledgers at the Horniman Museum, London.
Each item listed is a single index (either serial numbers or dates) to a single ledger.
Indexes lead to the ledger identification and page number as
a live link: click on it to see the colour photograph of the page from which the
information was taken. There is also an
automated lookup which finds all records for any single serial number
throughout all the indexed ledgers.
(Only indexes to nineteenth-century ledgers are yet completed. Additional indexes
to the twentieth-century ledgers will be listed here as they are published.)
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Posted 15 December 2005; updated 01 February 2006
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An Annotated Catalogue of Historic European Free-Reed Instruments from my Private Collection
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by Stephen Chambers
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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.
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Posted 15 January 2004
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» read full article
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Concertina Pricelists
- collected by Chris Algar
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A unique collection of nearly 40 pricelists for vintage concertinas,
mostly found in old concertina cases. From internal evidence it is
possible to date the Wheatstone pricelists with more or less accuracy, but the Lachenal pricelists
and others from dealers still have some uncertainty in dates.
- Posted 07 March 2005
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The Concertinist's Guide
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by John Hill Maccann
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The Most Simple Modern Methods; How to Play
Correctly, With or Without a Tutor
8vo. London: Howard & Co., 1888.
Images from a microfilm of a copy at the Bodleian Library, replacing
a British Library copy destroyed in World War II. (Former British Library
shelfmark D-7808.c.14.(14.), replaced by British Library microfilm
Mic.A. 10532(4), Bodleian Shelfmark 17426 e 3(2).) Also a full
transcription which is searchable in the Adobe PDF reader. 50 pages.
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Posted 15 November 2001
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» read full document in pdf
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How to Play the Concertina
- by John Hill Maccann
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A newly-discovered booklet, reliably dated to 1902.
The text of the document consists of two parts: (1) a
part of the "how to play" text from Maccann's earlier
publication The Concertinist's Guide (1888); and (2) an
interview with Professor Maccann reprinted from The Era
theatrical newspaper of London, issue of 25 January 1902.
In addition to the text,
the booklet contains some new photographs of Maccann,
including the first known photographs of him playing the concertina.
There is a sample program of a recital by Maccann, a list of phonograph
records for sale recorded by Maccann, and a catalogue of
some of Maccann's published music compositions.
This copy was discovered in the National Archives of
Australia, where it had been deposited for copyright registration.
- Posted 27 September 2004
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» read article and full document
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» read full document in pdf (medium quality)
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» read full document in pdf (higher quality)
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Recollections of the English Concertina, from 1844,
by George Jones, born February 29th 1832
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by George Jones
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A full transcription of a manuscript now in the British Library, catalogued there as:
Additional Manuscript 71124 Q,
Recollections of the manufacture of the English concertina from 1844, by George Jones; [1912].
Presented by F. E. Butler, Esq., grandson of George Jones, 29 Aug. 1988, and incorporated in 1993.
ff. 331 x 207mm.
As published in Concertina Magazine, 13 (Winter 1985): 4–5, and
14 (Spring 1985): 4–7. Previously published (with heavy editorial additions) in
FreeReed: The Concertina Magazine, No. 16 (November 1973): 14–20.
A link is provided to PDF scanned versions of both publications.
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Posted 15 January 2004
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» read full article
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» read 1985 publication in PDF
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» read 1973 publication in PDF
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The Wicki System—an 1896 Precursor of the Hayden System
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by Robert Gaskins
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The concertina keyboard system known today as the "Hayden" system,
which was independently discovered by Brian Hayden and patented by him in 1986,
had also been discovered and patented 90 years earlier by a Swiss inventor
named Kaspar Wicki. Wicki's 1896 Swiss patent (CH13329) is clear and unambiguous, including
a keyboard diagram labeled in standard musical notation.
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Posted 01 March 2004
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» read full article
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Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments
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by Allan Atlas
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The CSFRI, part of the Doctoral Program in Music
at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, is
a resource for the scholarly study of all free-reed instruments
(sheng, harmonica, accordion, etc.)
and contains much of interest to concertinists. The site has news
of upcoming concerts, and a listing of books, articles,
recordings, and research material available at the Center's archives.
CSFRI published The Free-Reed Journal (four volumes, 1999–2003),
and now co-publishes the
Papers of the International Concertina Association (PICA)
with the ICA (2004– ).
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Posted 15 February 2003
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» go to website
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Signor Alsepti and “Regondi’s Golden Exercise”
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by Allan Atlas
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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.
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Posted 22 December 2003
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Giulio Regondi in Ireland
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by Thomas Lawrence
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New information about Giulio Regondi, guitarist and concertinist, who performed on
Wheatstone’s patent concertina in Ireland as early as 1834, the earliest reference to the concertina
in the British Isles.
In PaGes [University
College, Dublin, postgraduate students in the Faculty of Arts] 6 (1999),
on the web at
http://www.ucd.ie/pages/99/articles/lawrence.pdf.
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Posted 15 August 2003
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» go to website
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Wheatstone, His Sighing Reed, and The Great Regondi
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Presented by Bernard Richardson
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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.
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Posted 27 November 2007
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» read full article
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Instruction Manuals for the English, Anglo, and Duet Concertina: An Annotated Bibliography
- by Randall C. Merris
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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
- » read full article
- » read Part 1, "English Concertina"
- » read part 2, "Anglo Concertina"
- » read part 3, "Duet Concertina"
- » read original article (without updates) in pdf"
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Charles Jeffries: the Man and His Family
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by Chris Algar, Stephen Chambers, Robert Gaskins, David Lee, Randall C. Merris, and Wes Williams
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New information about Charles Jeffries and all of his family that participated
in the concertina making business. Contains the first known pictures of Charles
and Mary Ann Jeffries, and reproductions of birth, marriage, and death certificates
where known. Summary table of Jeffries descendants. Brief descriptions of the
addresses where Charles Jeffries lived and worked, with maps of the Praed Street area,
White Lion Passage, and the Kilburn area. Based on information from members of
the Jeffries family.
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Posted 15 November 2005
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» read full article
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Memoirs of a Concertina-Playing Man: Reuben Shaw
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as told to Phil Hopkinson, with an introduction by David Cornell
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Memoirs of a player, a teacher, a link with the great British concertina tradition, and
a fine story teller, who has played the Maccann Duet concertina for over fifty years.
Reprinted from Concertina & Squeezebox,
issue 29 (1993), pp. 12-17. Posted to honor Reuben Shaw’s 90th birthday, and to commemorate his
appearance at the English Country Music Weekend at High Bradfield, Nr Sheffield, UK, 20-22 June 2003.
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Posted 15 June 2003
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» read full article in pdf
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A Chat with Brian Hayden
- by Wes Williams
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Brian Hayden was interviewed in 2001 about his background, his invention of
the Hayden System, his views on other duet systems, and his suggestions
for learning and playing the duet concertina. Contains keyboard diagrams
for nine duet systems: the Early Wheatstone Duett, Early Wheatstone Double, Maccann,
Jeffries, Crane (Triumph), Linton, Rust ("Piano"), Late Wheatstone Chidley, and Hayden.
(There is also
a PDF version of the article.)
Also published at concertina.net.
- Posted 15 February 2003
- » read full article
- » read full article in pdf
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A Timeline of Snippets of Concertina History
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by Wes Williams
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Facts about concertina history and brief self-explanatory clippings arranged in
a timeline. This arrangement frequently gives insight into dating instruments
or archival materials through their internal evidence.
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Posted 15 February 2003
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» go to website
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Fingering Systems for Duet Concertina
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by Brian Hayden
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Overview of all the fingering systems for duet concertina which
turned up in Hayden's review of prior art while preparing his own patent application.
As published in Concertina Magazine (Australia)
16 (1986): 19-23; 17 (1987): 7-9; 18 (1987): 11-15; 19 (1987): 6-10.
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Posted 15 November 2001
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» read full article in pdf
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The Tommy Williams Story
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by Neil Wayne
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Interview with Tommy Williams, Maccann Duet concertinist and former
Lachenal employee.
Published in three parts in Free Reed: The Concertina Newsletter,
3 (January 1972): 5–6;
5 (May 1972): 6–7;
and 7 (August 1972): 10–12.
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Posted 15 November 2001; last updated 15 January 2004
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» read full document in pdf
Historic Concertina Makers:
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C. Jeffries, Maker
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Directory
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Concertina Library directory of all information on this website about C. Jeffries Maker and Jeffries Brothers.
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Posted 01 January 2005
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» go to directory
See more under individual concertina systems:
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Hayden System Duet Concertinas
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Directory
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Concertina Library directory of all information on this website about Hayden System Duet Concertinas,
including most of Brian Hayden's published articles.
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Posted 01 January 2005
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» go to directory
Do you know another resource that we should include?
Tell us about it.
Reprinted from the Concertina Library
http://www.concertina.com
© Copyright 2000– by Robert Gaskins
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Wheatstone receipt, for
second-hand duet 56-key
No. 27170, July 1935,
£8.10.–
Contents
- Concertina History
- A Brief History of the Anglo Concertina in the United States
by Dan Worrall
- Notes on the Beginnings of Concertina Playing
in Ireland, 1834–1930
by Dan Worrall
- Ladies in the Wheatstone Ledgers
by Allan Atlas
- Historic Concertina Patents
by Robert Gaskins
- The Concertina History Resource
by Wes Williams
- The Wheatstone English Concertina
by Neil Wayne
- The Life and Times of the Concertina
by Stuart Eydmann
- The Cult of the English Concertina (Miss Christine Hawkes)
contributed by Stuart Eydmann
- The Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961
from British Pathe Newsreels
- A Short Account of the English Concertina, … (1865)
by Wm. Cawdell
- The Lachenal Sisters Visit Edinburgh, 1865–1866
by Robert Gaskins
- Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers
by Horniman Museum
- Serial Number and Date Indexes to the Wheatstone Ledgers
by Wes Williams and Robert Gaskins
- An Annotated Catalogue of Historic European Free-Reed Instruments from my Private Collection
by Stephen Chambers
- “Music for the Concertina”
by C. Wheatstone & Co.
- “The Concertina, A New Musical Instrument”
by C. Wheatstone & Co.
- Concertina Pricelists
from Chris Algar
- The Concertinist's Guide (1888)
by John Hill Maccann
- How to Play the Concertina (1902)
by John Hill Maccann
- Recollections of the English Concertina, from 1844
by George Jones
- The Wicki System—an 1896 Precursor of the Hayden System
by Robert Gaskins
- Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments
Allan Atlas
- Signor Alsepti and “Regondi’s Golden Exercise”
by Allan Atlas
- Giulio Regondi: Two Newly Discovered Letters
by Allan Atlas
- Giulio Regondi in Ireland
by Thomas Lawrence
- Wheatstone, His Sighing Reed, and The Great Regondi
BBC Radio4 Programme
- New Essays in Concertina History
by Randall C. Merris
- Instruction Manuals for the English, Anglo, and Duet Concertina:
An Annotated Bibliography
by Randall C. Merris
- Charles Jeffries: the Man and his Family
by Chris Algar, Stephen Chambers,
Robert Gaskins, David Lee, Randall C. Merris, and Wes Williams
- Memoirs of a Concertina-Playing Man: Reuben Shaw
as told to Phil Hopkinson, with an introduction by David Cornell
- A Chat with Brian Hayden
by Wes Williams
- Fingering Systems for Duet Concertina
by Brian Hayden
- The Tommy Williams Story
by Neil Wayne
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- C. Wheatstone & Co.
- Lachenal & Co.
- C. Jeffries, Maker
- George Jones & Sons
- H. Crabb and Sons
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- Directory: English Concertina
- Directory: Anglo Concertina
- Directory: Maccann Duet Concertina
- Directory: Early Wheatstone Double System Duet Concertina
- Directory: Early Wheatstone Duett System Duet Concertina
- Directory: Crane System Duet Concertina
- Directory: Jeffries System Duet Concertina
- Directory: Chidley System Duet Concertina
- Directory: Hayden System Duet Concertina
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