There are no universal rules for how words are used ... but, unless there are ground rules, there is no language ... only noises. I'm just setting out the rules that makes sense to me - and it happens that they (mostly)agree with (one of) the main maker's catalogue usage.

Other than that, we are where I'm used to being ... in the trap of knowing (and bothering about) what words mean ... in a post-modernist workd that says they mean what they want them to mean (and therefore, you can take anything they say as meaning anything you want it to mean ... ?) And that leaves me where I have to do a quick reality check before I say anything, because it may be taken to mean anything else by the person listening.

Come to think of it ... that's part of why I'm interested in folk music (and other pre-modern things) ... I believe that we have a past ... and that it's relevant ... and it would be a nice thing if people had half a chance of understanding what some one said in a great ballad 400 years ago ... or a description of an instrument 80 years ago ... or what I said five minutes ago.

But then, this thread started with someone who thought we should use the term they are familiar with from their youth ... and not something else ...

Now, what did Douglas Adams's Hitch-hikers' Guide say about the "Babel Fish" ...?

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

"We read in issue #16 of our Australian sister publication, 'Concertina' that the English concertina at least , seems to have arrived here (on) November 25th, 1847 in New York City brought by English pianist Richard Hoffman. The poster for that concert announces he will 'introduce' the concertina to the American public for the first time, playing the Fantasia on Themes from the opera 'Norma.'"

Referring to the American Musical Dictionary of 1861, the article also cites the existance of one concertina teacher, William H. Currie, at W. 28th St., and one accordian teacher, Charles Rosenberger, E. 13th St., both in New York City.

Ubcommon or unusual, but nevertheless here at that time.

Keep on squeezin' -- Tom

I do remember that item and poster, but I should, in all fairness, admit that this refers to an expensive, virtuoso instruments ... one of Sir Charles's (probably) 'English System' concertinas, handmade for vast cost.

The sort of concertina that would have been commonly played by hoi polloi, would be the German system ('push - pull' tuning system - related to mouthorgan and button accordion) ... whether as a really cheap German factory-made "chinese lantern" model or one of the cheaper London-made 20-key Anglos from Lachenal, or other makers, sing a network of "cottage workers" to turn out components that were finally assembled at the factory.

This is certainly what we find in Australia ... and I would expect something similar in America - differening in detail, but with similarities simply from the availability of instruments and the very similar immigration patterns.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

That sounds interesting. Certainly, there was a developed notation (using "arrow heads" and button numbers) by then ... I've seen it in early tutors that would date back that far ... but I'd love to see you reference.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Sedgwick (birth and death dates unknown) was one of the first music-hall concertinists and a member of the Blagrove-Case-Regondi-Sedgwick concertina quartet, founded in 1844. In 1850-1851, he emigrated to New York and became a well-known composer for the musical stage. He also performed, often with son Charles on baritone or bass concertina, in major theaters in New York....

Do you know if there is an image of that 1846 concertina tutor somewhere? (I will search for a web site for "the Centre for Free Reed studies in New York" ... they sound even worse than me!)

I would be interested to see if it the same as the one of which I have a copy - or else the source of some of those textual references on which I based my dating of 1845 (+/- 3 years).

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Thanks for that. I tried searching for "Centre for Free Reed studies" ... and got more non-English sites (French, German, Japanese, ... ) than ones comprehensible to a basically Anglophone Antipodean. I was chuffed to note that I could, at least, recognise references to Richard Carlin ... someone I have always held in reverence for his (~ 1970s) reference to the 'perloid' cladding of cheap concertinas as mother of toilet seat!

I did not find a direct link ... obviously I needed something more specific than CUNY as the institution ... ?

Regards,

Bob Bolton