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The diatonic
accordion was first imported into the United Kingdom around
1840. Sometimes they arrived in pieces, which had to be assembled
by shopkeepers. The accordion became popular at the turn of
the century in the form of the melodeon. This was adopted
by the working classes, along with the concertina. The middle
classes preferred the harmonium or the organ.
The
first cylindrical form accordion was invented by two Scotsmen,
the Wymper brothers, Peter (1871-1950) and Daniel (1882-1957).
Daniel Wymper was a cornet player in an orchestra of miners,
sometimes performing with his brother.
Famous
early accordionists were George "Pamby" Dick (1863-1932),
who was the Great Britain Northern Champion on the 19 key
accordion in 1887, 1888 and 1890. Peter Leatham was widely
known as the best player in Edinburgh between 1900-1920. At
the beginning of the century there were numerous accordion
competitions at locations including the Crystal Palace, the
Belle Vue Garden in Manchester, and the Alexander Palace in
London.
The piano
accordion was introduced to England in 1907. It was first
used by pianists to play the Tango in dance orchestras, in
place of the bandoneon. Some of the pioneers of the piano
accordion were George Scott-Wood, Al Davidson, Donald Thorne
and Conway Graves. Al Davidson (1885-1936) was the organist
of the Ely Cathedral, and the recipient of many distinguished
musical diplomas.
During
the 1930's, the Hohner School of Accordions ran correspondence
courses under the direction of Al Davidson and Eric Little.
The British College of Accordionists (BCA) evolved from this
in 1936, then a range of musical and teaching certificates
developed. In 1935, a magazine called "Accordion Times"
was published, and regional and national championships were
organised. Some well known teachers, such as E. Pett and Martyas
Seiber came to the fore. In 1946, Desmond Hart created the
"Accordion Review" which was published by Modern
Accordion Publications. In 1947 the Accordion Teachers Guild
was founded, which led to the creation of the National Accordion
Organisation (NAO) in 1949. One of the best known current
professional English accordionists is John Kirkpatrick.
Scottish
Diatonic accordion player Jimmy Shand became famous in 1940,
when he founded his first orchestra. He recorded numerous
records and participated in many television and radio broadcasts.
He officially retired in 1972, but continued to record occasionally.
His son, Jimmy Shand Jnr. also had a dance orchestra.
Ireland
has produced as impressive a number of diatonic accordionists.
Carmino Capaldi, born in 1904, performed in music halls with
his brother Mario as the Capaldi Brothers. Harry Krein (b
1905) started playing the accordion with his father's orchestra
who played for the BBC. He began his own orchestra, called
the Montmartre Players Quartet. Primo Scala was born in 1898.
He was a pianist in his father's orchestra, and although he
did not play the acordion himself, he put together a famous
orchestra of accordions which included many big names of the
day: Red Manus, Tommy Nicol, Bill Bowness, Warwick Bidgood,
Emilio, Reg Hogarh, Syd Hellier, Gerald Crossman and Peter
Wise. During the 1950's, many master accordionists began to
play in dance orchestras, including Ronald Binge (1910-1979),
accordionist for the Mantovani orchestra.
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