Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup makemicromusic Chemnitzer time!

Howdy all,

Seemed like a good time to post this. My grandfather played
something called the Chemnitzer concertina:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitzer_concertina
He lived in Detroit, and just called it a "concertina" (as
Chemnitzers were often known in the midwest). He had a polka
band at one time - I have one of their shirts.

The instrument is an unholy German/American contraption* that
was popular in Chicago, and its last hold out seems to be
there as well:
http://ciceroconcertina.weebly.com/downloads.html

You can see the unholy keyboard layout. It's buttons on both
sides, arranged in a haphazard fashion, and they make different
sounds depending on whether you're pushing or pulling on the
bellows! I inherited one of my grandfather's instruments.
It is beautiful and impossible all at once.

My grandfather died of cancer in the early '80s. I believe
it was the year before he died that we went out to see him,
and my Dad recorded him playing on a radio shack cassette
boombox. Here's my favorite track:

http://lumma.org/temp/Lindenau.mp3

I would have been about 4 - you can hear me in the background
once or twice. The song is called Lindenau. I don't know
the lyrics, but they're about this town in Germany:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindenau_%28Oberlausitz%29

The whole time we were recording he was complaining that he
couldn't play properly - he was dying of stomach cancer at
the time. Still I think it's pretty good! In fact it's
amazing to me how much one can keep going on these instruments.
You can also see some people playing them on youtube.

The microtonal part of this is that these instruments were
often tuned in meantone. And though it's hard to be sure,
I believe this is the case for the instrument heard here.

Comments welcome -- especially any Chemnitzer or concertina
stories.

-Carl

* The concertina was developed in the 1800s, in England and
Germany simultaneously. The English style is smaller with
hexagonal end caps. The German style is large and square.
These German style instruments traveled to America and Argentina
and evolved further, into the Chemnitzer and Bandoneon (used
for tango) respectively. The instrument largely died out on
the European mainland.

🔗Mark <mark.barnes3@...>

🔗Carl Lumma <carl@...>

🔗Daniel Forró <dan.for@...>

Interesting story. I just add this:

- It's not quite true that this type of bisonoric diatonic instrument is not used in European countries. In Czech Republic and Slovakia a diatonic type of small accordeon with button keyboard (melodeon) is still in use, especially in the hands of amateur, folklore musicians. It's called "Heligonka", because unlike the other accordeons it has very strong bass tones (one octave lower) reminding a special type of bass tuba for marching bands (called Heligon), and because there are decorative small conic pipes for bass department reminding shape of brass instruments. As there are chromatic notes missing, the instrument can be used only for simple folk songs using diatonic major scale - that means mainly rather younger urban pseudo-folklore from 19. century, like polka and similar. Usually it's used as a solo instrument accompanying singing. You can hear it for example in some famous Prague beer pubs, and there are organized few festivals. Famous Czech producer was "Hlavacek" and between about 1880-1939 Bohemia was a main producer of all accordeon types in middle Europe.

- Origin of accordeon type reed instruments is in old China, until now they have an instrument called sheng (in Japan sho) - mouth reed organ with vertical bamboo pipes, which can even play six voice chords. In Japan it's used for ceremonial shinto music, and gagaku music. John Cage composed some pieces for sho, I have used it in my work "Kenrokuen - garden of six principles" written for orchestra of Japanese traditional instruments in 2004.

- BTW Chemnitz in Sachsen (Saxony) in East Germany was originally grounded and populated by Slavonic tribes, German name Chemnitz is derived from original Slavonic "Kamenice", which means something done or build from stones (kamen = stone). There are more Kamenice in Czech Republic, so this one was called in Czech language "Saska Kamenice" (Saxony Kamenice). During socialistic experiment between 1949-1989 when Eastern part of Germany was called German Democratic Republic this city had a name Karl-Marx-Stadt (City of K.M.). After changes in 1989 and reuniting of Germany they returned to the old name.
Traditionally this region, even on the opposite side of a border mountain Krusne Hory (Erzgebirge in German) in Czech Republic, is known as a region of manufacturing musical instruments - in the cities like Klingenthal (Germany) or Kraslice, Horice, Horovice (Czech Republic),

So I suppose your grandfather or grandgrandfather came from Europe, Saxony? Or other part of Germany? Accordeons are used a lot in German and generally middle European countries folklore music, of course also in France, Italy, Balcan countries, Russia, Ukraine, Baltic countries, Scandinavia... It's a pity that AFAIK nowadays there's no interest among young people in Czech Republic (and probably everywhere) to study this instrument at music schools - electronic keyboards destroyed this type of old culture and it slowly dies and disappears...

Daniel Forro

On 28 Aug 2010, at 9:52 AM, Carl Lumma wrote:

> Howdy all,
>
> Seemed like a good time to post this. My grandfather played
> something called the Chemnitzer concertina:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitzer_concertina
> He lived in Detroit, and just called it a "concertina" (as
> Chemnitzers were often known in the midwest). He had a polka
> band at one time - I have one of their shirts.
>
> The instrument is an unholy German/American contraption* that
> was popular in Chicago, and its last hold out seems to be
> there as well:
> http://ciceroconcertina.weebly.com/downloads.html
>
> You can see the unholy keyboard layout. It's buttons on both
> sides, arranged in a haphazard fashion, and they make different
> sounds depending on whether you're pushing or pulling on the
> bellows! I inherited one of my grandfather's instruments.
> It is beautiful and impossible all at once.
>
> My grandfather died of cancer in the early '80s. I believe
> it was the year before he died that we went out to see him,
> and my Dad recorded him playing on a radio shack cassette
> boombox. Here's my favorite track:
>
> http://lumma.org/temp/Lindenau.mp3
>
> I would have been about 4 - you can hear me in the background
> once or twice. The song is called Lindenau. I don't know
> the lyrics, but they're about this town in Germany:
> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindenau_%28Oberlausitz%29
>
> The whole time we were recording he was complaining that he
> couldn't play properly - he was dying of stomach cancer at
> the time. Still I think it's pretty good! In fact it's
> amazing to me how much one can keep going on these instruments.
> You can also see some people playing them on youtube.
>
> The microtonal part of this is that these instruments were
> often tuned in meantone. And though it's hard to be sure,
> I believe this is the case for the instrument heard here.
>
> Comments welcome -- especially any Chemnitzer or concertina
> stories.
>
> -Carl
>
> * The concertina was developed in the 1800s, in England and
> Germany simultaneously. The English style is smaller with
> hexagonal end caps. The German style is large and square.
> These German style instruments traveled to America and Argentina
> and evolved further, into the Chemnitzer and Bandoneon (used
> for tango) respectively. The instrument largely died out on
> the European mainland.

🔗Chris Vaisvil <chrisvaisvil@...>

🔗Carl Lumma <carl@...>

Hi Daniel,

>- BTW Chemnitz in Sachsen (Saxony) in East Germany was originally
>grounded and populated by Slavonic tribes, German name Chemnitz is
>derived from original Slavonic "Kamenice", which means something done
>or build from stones (kamen = stone). There are more Kamenice in
>Czech Republic, so this one was called in Czech language "Saska
>Kamenice" (Saxony Kamenice). During socialistic experiment between
>1949-1989 when Eastern part of Germany was called German Democratic
>Republic this city had a name Karl-Marx-Stadt (City of K.M.). After
>changes in 1989 and reuniting of Germany they returned to the old name.
>Traditionally this region, even on the opposite side of a border
>mountain Krusne Hory (Erzgebirge in German) in Czech Republic, is
>known as a region of manufacturing musical instruments - in the
>cities like Klingenthal (Germany) or Kraslice, Horice, Horovice
>(Czech Republic),

Thanks for the information! According to my dad, my grandfather's
favorite repertoire was "slavic dances".

>So I suppose your grandfather or grandgrandfather came from Europe,

My grandfather was born here. I do not know who immigrated here
though my dad might. But they came from Germany, and before that
we think maybe Estonia... and ultimately the surname is Finnish.
My maternal side was even longer in the States and I don't think
even my mom knows who immigrated.

>Saxony? Or other part of Germany?

I don't know which part.

>Accordeons are used a lot in German
>and generally middle European countries folklore music, of course
>also in France, Italy, Balcan countries, Russia, Ukraine, Baltic
>countries, Scandinavia... It's a pity that AFAIK nowadays there's no
>interest among young people in Czech Republic (and probably
>everywhere) to study this instrument at music schools - electronic
>keyboards destroyed this type of old culture and it slowly dies and
>disappears...

The piano accordion was extremely popular here in the middle of
the last century -- something like the guitar is today. However
it is very unpopular now, and something like the chemnitzer is
virtually extinct. The popularity of tango at least ensures some
life for the bandoneon.

I must say I've never heard from this family of instruments the
style that is apparently characteristic of the chemnitzer -- with
full accompaniment. Have you?

-Carl

🔗Carl Lumma <carl@...>

🔗Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...>

Thanks for sharing this Carl. Good to know this history. there are accordion instruments made in Madagascar that the have likewise strayed from 12 ET.
I wonder how many microtonalist are interested in such due to being exposed to it early in life and want to reproduce what they heard earlier.

/^_,',',',_ //^ /Kraig Grady_ ^_,',',',_
Mesotonal Music from:
_'''''''_ ^North/Western Hemisphere:
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>

_'''''''_ ^South/Eastern Hemisphere:
Austronesian Outpost of Anaphoria <http://anaphoriasouth.blogspot.com/>

',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',

a momentary antenna as i turn to water
this evaporates - an island once again

On 28/08/10 10:52 AM, Carl Lumma wrote:
> Howdy all,
>
> Seemed like a good time to post this. My grandfather played
> something called the Chemnitzer concertina:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitzer_concertina
> He lived in Detroit, and just called it a "concertina" (as
> Chemnitzers were often known in the midwest). He had a polka
> band at one time - I have one of their shirts.
>
> The instrument is an unholy German/American contraption* that
> was popular in Chicago, and its last hold out seems to be
> there as well:
> http://ciceroconcertina.weebly.com/downloads.html
>
> You can see the unholy keyboard layout. It's buttons on both
> sides, arranged in a haphazard fashion, and they make different
> sounds depending on whether you're pushing or pulling on the
> bellows! I inherited one of my grandfather's instruments.
> It is beautiful and impossible all at once.
>
> My grandfather died of cancer in the early '80s. I believe
> it was the year before he died that we went out to see him,
> and my Dad recorded him playing on a radio shack cassette
> boombox. Here's my favorite track:
>
> http://lumma.org/temp/Lindenau.mp3
>
> I would have been about 4 - you can hear me in the background
> once or twice. The song is called Lindenau. I don't know
> the lyrics, but they're about this town in Germany:
> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindenau_%28Oberlausitz%29
>
> The whole time we were recording he was complaining that he
> couldn't play properly - he was dying of stomach cancer at
> the time. Still I think it's pretty good! In fact it's
> amazing to me how much one can keep going on these instruments.
> You can also see some people playing them on youtube.
>
> The microtonal part of this is that these instruments were
> often tuned in meantone. And though it's hard to be sure,
> I believe this is the case for the instrument heard here.
>
> Comments welcome -- especially any Chemnitzer or concertina
> stories.
>
> -Carl
>
> * The concertina was developed in the 1800s, in England and
> Germany simultaneously. The English style is smaller with
> hexagonal end caps. The German style is large and square.
> These German style instruments traveled to America and Argentina
> and evolved further, into the Chemnitzer and Bandoneon (used
> for tango) respectively. The instrument largely died out on
> the European mainland.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
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