Concertinas part 1: English

Everyone in this class has memorized that the concertina was a cheaply-made german instrument that could be bought by women in hardware stores. While all of that is at least to some extent true, I would like to take this opportunity to tell many more faces of the story to those who are interested. 

I am structuring this differently form my previous posts, but I will still include the important information. 

Title: Juberju

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFYVBUxnBxY 
(My apologies for no embedded video-Blogger refuses to show it)

Performer: Jeff Warner

Culture: From the Jeff Warner's website: "This is another song from the northern lumber camps.  It was collected by the Warners from John Galusha (1859-1950), a logger from Minerva, NY, in the Adirondack Mountains.  John said a woodsman could make $4 a day in the late 1800s being in charge of a “jam boat,” rather than a dollar a day working from the shore.  The boat would go out into the middle of a log jam to clear the key logs.  Joe Thomas wanted the extra money but apparently didn't have the extra experience.  “Juberju” seems to descend from “The Bigler's Crew,” a song about a schooner on the Great Lakes and its slow trip from Milwaukee to Buffalo. The song made its way through various US regions - and becomes “The Dogger Bank,” about fishing in northeast England."

Instrumentation: Solo voice and self-accompanied baritone english concertina.

The English concertina was patented in 1829 by Professor C. Wheatstone, a scientist who also invented the stereoscope, a mechanical microphone, and many other musical instruments, and contributed to the developments of spectroscopy and the telegraph. He also measured the speed of electricity in a wire and created the process by which the speed of light was later measured. You can see the amount of engineering that went into it here. 

"Many factors contributed to the popularity of the concertina, not least of which was the instrument’s versatility in terms of its technical capabilities. With a tone that Berlioz described as ‘mordant et doux’,14 the concertina could sing, fly through scale and arpeggio passages at breakneck speed, and—if the composer knew the instrument well—handle both thick chords, strings of parallel thirds and sixths, and true contrapuntal textures." -Allan W. Atlas

"Much variety of tone can be obtained by a skilful player, and it [the concertina] has the power of being played with great expression and complete sostenuto and staccato. Violin, flute, and oboe music can be performed on it without alteration; but music written specially for the concertina cannot be played on any other instrument, except the organ or harmonium. Nothing but the last-named instruments canproduce at once the extended harmonies, the sostenuto and staccato combined, of which the concertina is capable." -George Grove (1870's)

The English concertina had a place as a classical instrument in Victorian England. It was created with an advanced knowledge of European music theory in mind, and lends itself well to classical compositions. This quote is taken from W. Caldwell's 1866 pamphlet on English concertina playing:
"Although the Concertina may seem at first sight particularly adapted to the Solitary, it is equally favorable to the most social occasions, such as festive parties, whether musical or terpsichorean: for myself, I frequently take my instrument with me when visiting my friends; and for playing with the Pianoforte, I usually take the melody, but, on the contrary, if my companion should play the Violin or Flute, I leave him the melody, and play under, at one time full chords, at another a running accompaniment. In concerted Vocal Music, you may, with a Treble Concertina, take first or second line, or accompaniment according to taste."

The manual does also mention women playing the concertina: 
"I must not omit to speak of lady concertinists; I have heard of the dangers of Croquet to young men of a susceptible turn of mind, but I think that those perils cannot be compared to the fascination of a group of young ladies in a magic semicircle practising selections on several concertinas. I remember once being present at such a scene, and I went home suffering from heart affection and Concertina on the brain combined. I recovered entirely from the first, but the effects of the latter have not quite disappeared. Ecce signum in hoc libro."

Victorian England had very strict rules about gender and instruments. The acceptable instruments for a woman to play were piano, harp, guitar, and concertina. A study on this can be found here. This shows using sales ledgers, that women only accounted for 12% of concertina purchases. The reputation of concertina as a woman's instrument is due to it being a culturally acceptable instrument.

The english concertina had a large classical repertoire ranging from variations to fantasias, opera transcriptions, and chamber works that were performed in salons and recital halls. 
Now the English concertina is mostly used in folk musics, and the classical repertoire has faded, although a few pieces are still being composed, such as by Chung Wan Choi. 

English concertinas were known for their good quality, engineering and craftsmanship. Because of this, many older instruments are still in surprisingly good condition. For instance, I play a turn of the century Lanchenal that still has the original set of bellows and is in amazing condition regardless of its age. While there were student models made, the English concertina was an instrument associated with the upper class and those with a previous knowledge of music theory. 
When you hear about cheaply-made concertinas they are mostly referring to the Anglo-German system (to be discussed next), which had connections with lower-class music. This is partly due to the relative ease of playing a tune on it. This is all discussed in the next post. 

English concertinas exist in several ranges. The Treble has the same range as a violin, the Tenor the range of the viola, and the Baritone and Soprano an octave below and above the treble. 

Because of its versatility, this instrument is well-suited to adapting new musical styles and compositions. 

The concertina in this video is a 48-key Stagi Tenor model. It is more of a student instrument, but it was my very first, and has an excellent low range.