# Accordion, anyone?



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

What are your thoughts on the accordion as a (classical) musical instrument? What examples can you give of music written (classical setting, of course) for the accordion? What type of writing is best suited to the accordion?

Usually one thinks of:

*Polkas
*Mexican pop music
*Hungarians, drinking beer, and dancing in the forest glenn 

so, really, CLASSICAL?

but I think it is a rather interesting instrument...


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Poul Ruders, Danish composer:


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## Saintbert (Mar 12, 2015)

This probably wasn't written with the accordion in mind. Makes it sound all the more unique.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Music from Gerard Grisey, Magnus Lindberg, and others written for accordion.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

This is the Gerard Grisey piece, that I think is brilliant for the accordion:


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Jeux d'anches by Magnus Lindberg 
Performer: Mikko Luoma (Accordion) 
Written: 1990-1991; Finland


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Luciano Berio wrote Sequenza XIII for accordion:


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Per Nørgård composition "Anatomic Safari" (1967) is one of the first "modern classical" accordion compositions:


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Wolfgang Rihm - Fetzen 8 for accordion and string quartet

If you can get Spotify, this short piece is rather good.

https://play.spotify.com/album/40hC5pmn9AYrheKbODRR6A?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

The clarinet is to the piano
as 
The oboe is to the harpsichord
as 
The________ is the accordion?

Me thinks "muted horn." The attack (beginning) of each note is not a sharp attack - there is that slight "woof" to it that I sometimes hear when I listen to the horn. But the sound is rich, with lots of overtones - like the oboe or maybe even more accurately - the English horn.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Not written for the instrument, but Scarlatti sonatas seem popular targets for accordion players. There are several CDs available -- I have one and find it very nice.










Since that one seems a bit pricey right now, check out Teodoro Anzelotti's Scarlatti recital.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

This recording contains some pieces wrote for bayan, kind of russian accordion. The music is very intriguing as it was composed by Sofia Gubaidulina.









I know that she composed more music for this instrument, but I've never heard it.


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## cjvinthechair (Aug 6, 2012)

'Heliogabo' beat me to it with mention of the bayan - there are many, many Russian/Eastern works that are extremely listenable:
This is an example of a bit of a mixture - Aydar Gaynullin 'Oriental Rhapsody for bayan'....& just about everything else 




Of course from South America there's the bandoneon. This is Piazzola's Double Concerto for bandoneon, guitar & strings


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Toru Takemitsu wrote an interesting piece for two bandoneons and electronic tape called "Cross Talk" (a pun on having two players seated opposite each other as well as the term for electronic interference), but it's not on Youtube. I only know of the recording that I have, but there's another one on the Takemitsu Complete Edition (vol. 2), of course.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I recommend this album of 4 accessible modern accordion concertos, performed by Bjarke Mogensen:









http://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/rec...midt--martin-lohse---accordion-concertos.aspx


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

When I was a kid, the accordion was very popular. All the TV talent shows had an accordion player.

Seems to have faded.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

'A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't."

-Tom Waits


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Oh, another highly entertaining one is this selection of Russian classics performed on two accordions by the Mythos Duo.








http://www.orchidclassics.com/relea...-tchaikovsky-mussorgsky-mythos-accordion-duo/


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## Zarathustra (Dec 21, 2013)

Mikolaj MAJKUSIAK - Concerto Classico for Accordion and Orchestra


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Sorry, double post...


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

I always enjoyed the TV scores for the first season of "The Outer Limits". Dominic Frontiere, himself an accordion player, employed the instrument imaginatively in many of the scores. Here is a sample from the episode "Controlled Experiment".


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Frontiere was genius.


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## Markbridge (Sep 28, 2014)

Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite #2


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I really like Marjan Mozetich's _Dance of the Blind_ for accordion and string trio. I had a recording of this played during the dinner music portion at my wedding reception.


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## Autocrat (Nov 14, 2014)

All time favourite :devil:


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## JoanAlfonsPiano (Jun 25, 2014)

I agree with Nereffid!


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