Sample Page (the H1) with sidenav

The accordion’s basic form is believed to have been invented in Berlin, in 1822, by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann,^{[notes 4][10]} although one instrument has been recently discovered that appears to have been built earlier.^{[notes 5][11][12]}

Zitat Dillner Akkordeon

The earliest history of the accordion in Russia is poorly documented. Nevertheless, according to Russian researchers, the earliest known simple accordions were made in Tula, Russia, by Timofey Vorontsov from 1820, and Ivan Sizov from 1830.^[13] By the late 1840s, the instrument was already very widespread;^[14] together the factories of the two masters were producing 10,000 instruments a year. By 1866, over 50,000 instruments were being produced yearly by Tula and neighbouring villages, and by 1874 the yearly production rate was over 700,000.^[15] By the 1860s, Novgorod, Vyatka and Saratov governorates also had significant accordion production. By the 1880s, the list included Oryol, Ryazan, Moscow, Tver, Vologda, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod and Simbirsk, and many of these places created their own varieties of the instrument.^[16]

The accordion is one of several European inventions of the early 19th century that use free reeds driven by a bellows. An instrument called accordion was first patented in 1829 by Cyrill Demian, of Armenian origin, in Vienna.^{[notes 6]} Demian’s instrument bore little resemblance to modern instruments. It only had a left hand buttonboard, with the right hand simply operating the bellows. One key feature for which Demian sought the patent was the sounding of an entire chord by depressing one key. His instrument also could sound two different chords with the same key, one for each bellows direction (a bisonoric action). At that time in Vienna, mouth harmonicas with Kanzellen (chambers) had already been available for many years, along with bigger instruments driven by hand bellows. The diatonic key arrangement was also already in use on mouth-blown instruments. Demian’s patent thus covered an accompanying instrument: an accordion played with the left hand, opposite to the way that contemporary chromatic hand harmonicas were played, small and light enough for travelers to take with them and used to accompany singing. The patent also described instruments with both bass and treble sections, although Demian preferred the bass-only instrument owing to its cost and weight advantages.^{[notes 7]}

The accordion appeared in popular music from the 1900s to the 1960s. This half-century is often called the “golden age of the accordion”.^[24] Five players, Pietro Frosini, the two brothers Count Guido Deiro and Pietro Deiro and Slovenian brothers Vilko Ovsenik and Slavko Avsenik, Charles Magnante were major influences at this time.^[25]

Most vaudeville theaters closed during the Great Depression, but accordionists during the 1930s–1950s taught and performed for radio. Included among this group was the concert virtuoso John Serry, Sr.^[26][27][28] During the 1950s through the 1980s the accordion received significant exposure on television with performances by Myron Floren on The Lawrence Welk Show.^[29] In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the accordion declined in popularity due to the rise of rock and roll.^[30] The first accordionist to appear and perform at the Newport Jazz Festival was Angelo DiPippo. He can be seen playing his accordion in the motion picture The Godfather. He also composed and performed with his accordion on part of the soundtrack of Woody Allen’s movie To Rome With Love. He was featured twice on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

A folk accordionist 2009

Richard Galliano is an internationally known jazz accordionist. Some popular acts use the instrument in their distinctive sounds. A notable example is Grammy Award-winning parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic, who plays the accordion on many of his musical tracks, particularly his polkas. Yankovic was trained in the accordion as a child.^[31]

The accordion has also been used in the rock genre, most notably by John Linnell of They Might Be Giants, featuring more prominently in the band’s earlier works.^[32] The instrument is still frequently used during live performances, and continues to make appearances in their studio albums.