Concertina - History

History

In the mid 1830s concertinas were manufactured and sold in Germany and England, in two types specific to the country. Both systems continued to evolve into the current forms as the popularity of the instrument increased. The difference in prices and the common uses of the English and German systems led to something of a class distinction between the two types of the instrument. German or Anglo-German concertinas were regarded as a lower-class instrument and English concertina had an air of bourgeois respectability. English concertinas were most popular as parlour instruments for classical music, while the German concertinas were more associated with the popular dance music of the day.

In the 1850s, Anglo-German concertina's ability to play both melody and accompaniment led English manufacturers to start developing the various Duet systems, and the popular Maccann system were developed towards the end of the century. Meanwhile, German manufacturers were producing concertinas with more than 20 buttons for local sale. Three keyboard systems for German concertinas eventually became popular: Uhlig's Chemnitzer system, Carl Zimmerman's Carlsfeld system, and the Bandonion's Reinische system. Several efforts were made by the various German manufacturers to develop a single unified keyboard system for all German concertinas; but this was only partially accomplished at the end of the 19th century when the Chemnitzer and Carlsfelder systems were merged into the unified concertina system and a unified bandonion system was created. Despite the new standards, the older systems remained popular into the 20th century.

Throughout the 19th century, the concertina was a popular instrument. The Salvation Army in England, America, Australia and New Zealand commonly used concertinas in their bands, and other concertina bands and musicians performed in all parts of the English speaking world. German emigrants carried their Chemnizters and bandonions with them to the United States and Argentina, respectively, where they were regionally popular. In England, America and Australia the concertina became nearly ubiquitous.

In early 20th century, this popularity started to rapidly decline. Reasons included the growing relative popularity of the accordion, the mass production of other instruments such as the piano, increasingly chromatic and less tonal forms of music such as blues and jazz, and the overall decline of amateur musical performance due to radio and the phonograph. By the middle of the century, very few concertina makers remained, and most of those used accordion reeds and inexpensive, unreliable button mechanisms. Yet the various forms of concertina survived in some areas: Anglo concertinas in Irish traditional music, the English and the Anglo in English Morris dancing, the Anglo in Africa, among Afrikaners (see Boer music) and Zulus (who call it a "squashbox"), the Chemnitzer in the United States as a polka instrument, and the "bandoneón" in Argentina as a prominent part of the Tango tradition. During the period between World War I and World War II there were many concertina and bandonion bands in Germany; but with the rise of the Nazi regime these musical clubs disappeared.

The folk revival movements of the 1960s led to a modest resurgence in the popularity of the concertina particularly the Anglo. More recently the popularity of the concertina again seems to be experiencing a resurgence, particularly the Anglo in the traditional music of Ireland. Renewed interest in tango since the 1980s has also seen interest in the "Bandoneón" increase.

Traditional music continues in many parts of the UK in the 21st century, often using English and Anglo-system concertinas. The Concertina Band Revival is stimulated by regular weekends and meetings for players to make music together and get tuition, folk festival workshops and enthusiastic groups meeting monthly.

Currently there are at least eleven makers of traditional hand-made concertinas, in Europe, South Africa, Australia and North America. They use mainly traditional construction techniques and hand-made reeds, and generally offer many options for the type of concertina, materials, decoration, button layouts, tuning, and other customizations. Quality traditional concertinas require labour and high skill to produce, so prices can be high and waiting lists measured in years. Cheap mass-produced accordion-reeded instruments are less reliable. Since the mid-1970s, hand-made accordion-reeded concertinas have become a high-quality cheaper alternative. They are mainly made using traditional building techniques, and some are built customized to order, but the traditional design is adapted to use mass-produced accordion reeds to significantly reduce production cost and time. They are commonly called "hybrids", although some manufacturers object to this term.