HISTORY OF THE ACCORDION IN BELGIUMPioneer accordion player Pierre Vanderhaegen played at the royal palace at the turn of the century. This increased the nobles' interest in the instrument, and the King created a prize for accordionists: "The King of Belgium's Prize". This was won by many Belgian and French accordionists. The first workshop to make and sell the diatonic accordion was opened in Brussels by a flautist named François Verhasselt (1813-1853). He was the first Belgian accordion teacher.Twenty years later an accordionist called Solari arrived from Italy and opened a shop, and Jean-Joseph Vassart and Joseph Limage began manufacturing accordions in Auvelais. In 1880, the Callewaert brothers (Felix, Auguste and Charles) also opened an accordion shop. Soon Belgium had what was probably a record number of manufacturers. Most of these were also importers of Italian brands, such as Scandalli, Dallape, Soprani, Vaccari, Parmelli. In 1894 at Namur, an accordion maker, John Alexandry, discovered the basis of a "system of a table of harmony which could be adapted to an instrument". This new gadget was worked by the feet and produced bass notes. It was very popular in Belgium and France. In the early part of the twentieth century, many accordionists who had begun on the diatonic accordion, moved to the chromatic accordion. In general, Belgium welcomed this change. The town of Liège was popular with chromatic accordionists because of the many cafes and brasseries where they could perform. They were frequented by some of the best Belgian artists, such as Jules Pitt (nicknamed "Jules the Umbrella"). He proclaimed himself the best accordionist, and trained two body guards to deal with anyone who thought otherwise. It is rare to find musicians who will resort to physical strength in order to assert their superiority, but as an upshot there was enough musical enthusiasm to be able to organise a lot of tournaments. These were held in halls which the public paid to enter, and could last several hours. Whichever musician the public favoured would be challenged again by the loser a couple of months later. At the end of the nineteenth century, around the border between France and Belgium, the accordion was developing quickly. Many musicians were also manufacturers and importers. There were no standard models or organisations. The accordion was not recognised in music schools and had to make its own way, so accordionists were mainly self-taught. It was not until the beginning of the century that the first teachers began to appear. More recently, the Royal Conservatory of Mons had an accordion class taken by Jyossart Cériaque, considered one of the best teachers in Belgium. It appears that in recent years the accordion has lost popularity in Belgium. The decline began at the beginning of the 1970s, however there seems to be a resurgence of interest in the instrument, with many new accordionists appearing. |
