# How about classical music played by an accordion?



## abrygida (5 mo ago)

How about classical music played by an accordion?
What do you like and what do you not?
For example - Igor Zavadsky from Ukraine:


https://www.youtube.com/c/igorzavadsky/videos


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There are a lot of things a "cultured" classical listener isn't supposed to like. Accordion is one. I love it, especially when played really, really well. How in the world these virtuosos play so fabulously is a miracle. The bayan instruments seem impossible but they play them flawlessly. My own accordion experience, with a piano style keyboard, playing in the musical Cabaret left me very humbled. Here's another just astonishing performance:


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

About a decade ago I was treated by a dental hygienist who had studied accordion at a conservatory in Romania. I've heard Petrushka performed by a solo accordionist. It was a trip. Overall though, I'll go with the orchestral version.


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## abrygida (5 mo ago)

EdwardBast said:


> About a decade ago I was treated by a dental hygienist who had studied accordion at a conservatory in Romania. I've heard Petrushka performed by a solo accordionist. It was a trip. Overall though, I'll go with the orchestral version.


Yes, the orchestra is always good. But sometimes an accordion solo can do a lot. In my opinion


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Among music written _for_ accordian, Yuji Takahashi's _Like a Water Buffalo_ is a beautiful piece.
“The song is born from the people’s sorrow. Singers may not last, but the song ploughs on like a water buffalo…” 

Written a few years earlier and somewhat different in approach, Vagn Holmboe's Sonate Op. 143a for accordian is very enjoyable. 

I grew up listening to my grandfather play Waldteufel's _Estudiantina_ on accordian (in addition to giving it a go myself) so I'll have to say it's one of my popular favorites as well.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

Eight years of commuting on the Paris Metro has given me an aversion to accordions.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

"Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp."

"Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."


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## abrygida (5 mo ago)

NoCoPilot said:


> "Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp."
> 
> "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."


Oh yeeees


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

NoCoPilot said:


> "Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp."
> 
> "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."


No, no. The last word of that joke has traditionally been and always should be: "bagpipe."


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## abrygida (5 mo ago)

Chilham said:


> Eight years of commuting on the Paris Metro has given me an aversion to accordions.


They play a very bad repertoire on bad accordions. I have also been on the Paris metro. Accordionists in a subway car are a nightmare!
Classical accordion music should be listened to in church. It's a completely different sound and feel.
Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre in Paris -


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

EdwardBast said:


> No, no. The last word of that joke has traditionally been and always should be: "bagpipe."


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

abrygida said:


> How about classical music played by an accordion?
> What do you like and what do you not?
> For example - Igor Zavadsky from Ukraine:
> 
> ...


Love it, especially when played by Teodoro Anzellotti, Stefan Hussong, Mark Knoop, Pauline Oliveros or Vivianne Chassot (possibly, I blow hot and cold about her)

These guys are real poets of the instrument, serious musicians.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

At first glance, I would say hell no. As a musician, I know far too many accordion jokes to transcribe a piece for one of those instruments.

But that clip of that fellow playing a button accordion made a believer out of me. For those of you who never actually encounter accordions in real life, accordions are not all the same. Keyboard accordions are pretty strait forward. Button accordions can be very weird. Some of them make a different note on the push than they do on the pull. Some of them have rows of buttons that make no sense. Thankfully, I don't know enough about button accordions to tell what type he is playing, but that he is doing all that on a button box is impressive. 

makes me want to play a violin partita on my tenor banjo


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## Tarneem (Jan 3, 2022)

hope you find these compositions refreshing


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## N Fowleri (5 mo ago)

Nate Miller said:


> At first glance, I would say hell no. As a musician, I know far too many accordion jokes to transcribe a piece for one of those instruments.
> 
> But that clip of that fellow playing a button accordion made a believer out of me. For those of you who never actually encounter accordions in real life, accordions are not all the same. Keyboard accordions are pretty strait forward. Button accordions can be very weird. Some of them make a different note on the push than they do on the pull. Some of them have rows of buttons that make no sense. Thankfully, I don't know enough about button accordions to tell what type he is playing, but that he is doing all that on a button box is impressive.
> 
> makes me want to play a violin partita on my tenor banjo


 Some inspiration for you.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

if anybody can do it, its Bela Fleck

I just caught him on PBS Saturday night. He wasn't playing violin partitas, but it was still some pretty good stuff


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## N Fowleri (5 mo ago)

I'm not really in a position to judge, but Bela Fleck and Chris Thile seem pretty darned talented to me, no matter what genre they attempt.


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## abrygida (5 mo ago)

Nate Miller said:


> At first glance, I would say hell no. As a musician, I know far too many accordion jokes to transcribe a piece for one of those instruments.
> 
> But that clip of that fellow playing a button accordion made a believer out of me. For those of you who never actually encounter accordions in real life, accordions are not all the same. Keyboard accordions are pretty strait forward. Button accordions can be very weird. Some of them make a different note on the push than they do on the pull. Some of them have rows of buttons that make no sense. Thankfully, I don't know enough about button accordions to tell what type he is playing, but that he is doing all that on a button box is impressive.
> 
> makes me want to play a violin partita on my tenor banjo


Yes, accordions and accordionists are different. Most people just hit the box with buttons with their fingers, not understanding what they are playing. It is especially scary to go to the conservatory when there is a rehearsal going on 
But it also happens well -


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I can take it or leave it. I prefer the harmonium/pump organ - it sounds more dirgy somehow.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

EdwardBast said:


> No, no. The last word of that joke has traditionally been and always should be: "bagpipe."


I think not!☹


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

For people interested in baroque music and in recent composers, this is a very successful release









Figuren der Sehnsucht - Works For Meantone Tempered Accordion


Figuren der Sehnsucht - Works For Meantone Tempered Accordion. Neos: NEOS22001. Buy CD or download online. Hans Maier, Nikolaus Brass, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Johann Jak



www.prestomusic.com





Mie Miki is another name worth exploring. She has made some baroque CDs - Bach is what I’ve heard - and a Cd of arrangements of renaissance music for viola and accordion with Nabuko Imai.









Mie Miki: Das Wohltemperierte Akkordeon album review @ All About Jazz


Mie Miki: Das Wohltemperierte Akkordeon album review by C. Michael Bailey, published on July 12, 2017. Find thousands jazz reviews at All About Jazz!




www.allaboutjazz.com





But best of all, a recording of Japanese music.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

EdwardBast said:


> No, no. The last word of that joke has traditionally been and always should be: "bagpipe."


Wrong. But somehow absolutely correct at the same time.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Ive recently added accordion to my list of musical instruments that never sound good and should be banned after a busker, in Dundee, tortured me by playing the same godawful tune over and over.

'Banned in Merl's House' list
Bagpipes
Harpsichord
Ukelele
Hurdy Gurdy
Accordion


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Man, the harpsichord busker must've really pissed you off!

Here's something to chill you down again....


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

West Side Story


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I wonder if the harpsichord is one of the unlikeliest instruments to be 'busked'.
Lol


NoCoPilot said:


> Man, the harpsichord busker must've really pissed you off!
> 
> Here's something to chill you down again....


I wonder if the harpsichord is one of the unlikeliest instruments to be 'busked'.
🎼 🎹 😆


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## RandallPeterListens (Feb 9, 2012)

For real fun, try Mie Miki playing Domenico Scarlatti sonatas on the accordion. It's a Vanguard Classics recording from 1997. She has recorded Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and some other baroque music as well, but I haven't heard these yet. 
As with all great performers, when listening, you don't really hear the accordion - you hear Scarlatti.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I've got only _two words_ to say about the topic "*How about classical music played by an accordion?*": *Pauline Oliveros.*


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

This recording of Michael Nyman's works arranged for accordion trio (with piano and/or trombone on some tracks) has been one of our favorite Nyman albums.

Michael Nyman & Motion Trio, Acoustic Accordions








In Re Don Giovanni


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## Ulalume!Ulalume! (6 mo ago)

I quite enjoyed some tracks from this album of countertenor vocals with accordion accompaniment


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Render unto accordions what is meant for accordions, and unto orchestras what was written for orchestras.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I've heard effective use of the accordion in modern classical music


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## Enthalpy (Apr 15, 2020)

I thought I hated the accordion, but I only hated the garbage music it plays in France and some other countries.
"D'ailleurs, j'ai horreur de tous ces flons-flons, de la valse-musette et de l'accordéon." (Jacques Brel)

Then I heard Bach's Toccata and Fugue on an accordion. It's just the one and only other instrument that can play it besides the organ. By the way, if you're in *Munich*, of course both symphonic orchestras are excellent, but take (much) time for the *street musicians*.

So it's just a matter of traditions. In Latvia and other countries, the accordion plays nice music.
*Bach's Toccata and Fugue*


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## Enthalpy (Apr 15, 2020)

I would *like to hear Ysaÿe's Ballade on the accordion*. Does an accordionist read us? Here on the violin:
Chloe Chua - Bomsori Kim - Marc Bouchkov - Ilya Kaler - James Ehnes
The instrument's character should fit very nicely. I didn't find any single record on Youtube.

No idea how difficult it would be on the accordion. On the violin, the piece belongs to the worst ones because it contains many voices, but the accordion is far better equipped for that.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I did hear Mozart piano concertos played on accordion by Viviane Chassot was the soloist, never again.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Rogerx said:


> I did hear Mozart piano concertos played on accordion by Viviane Chassot was the soloist, never again.


I tried once before to interest the TC community in the unheralded Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra by Jean Wiener, who was a successful French film composer. But alas, this amusing singularity that is among other things a "Brandenburg Concerto" gone wild, remains criminally neglected:


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## Enthalpy (Apr 15, 2020)

Thanks for linking the
Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra by Jean Wiener
I listened to it, but am not enthusiastic. It resembles too much the horrible dance music ubiquitous in France on the instrument. Apparently, Jean Wiener couldn't imagine a completely different dialect for the instrument.

For me, the revelation was that Bach's Toccata and Fugue fits the accordion perfectly. So I hope musicians will adopt Ysaÿe's ballade.

I have no plan to make an arrangement myself, as I have no idea how to write for the instrument. *The free violin score is there*, it's the 3rd sonata:
free-scores.com


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Enthalpy said:


> For me, the revelation was that Bach's Toccata and Fugue fits the accordion perfectly. So I hope musicians will adopt Ysaÿe's ballade.
> 
> I have no plan to make an arrangement myself, as I have no idea how to write for the instrument. *The free violin score is there*, it's the 3rd sonata:
> free-scores.com


Ysaÿe's 3rd sonata (Ballade) will be a big challenge -- at least the accordionist wouldn't have to be concerned with tuning and bowing the chords!

I read your comment on the Wiener concerto -- fair enough. In Toronto Joseph Macerollo and his students have put the classical accordion on the map. He has always been concerned to stay clear of the sound of Italian wedding music.


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## Enthalpy (Apr 15, 2020)

Yes, bigger challenge than I thought. I wanted to check the range and learnt that the left hand has buttons to play predefined chords, over but more than an octave - the musician moves switches to choose a range. That won't help to play Ysaÿe's Ballade. The accordion's sound and expressiveness would have fit nicely.

A system with different bass exists. Some seem to reproduce lower for the left hand the right hand system of the button accordion or of the piano accordion, but others try to be half-compatible with the bizarre existing left hand system.

A simpler piece, nice and fitting at least the instrument's style if not the capabilities: *Ysaÿe's Malinconia*, from the 2nd sonata for violin solo
Ekaterina Valiulina
*Free score* available there:
free-scores
In case it helps, I've *split and transposed* Malinconia for duets, free, there:
two woodwinds - two brass - two bowed strings
I won't try to type it for the accordion: no competence.

Wiki has *lists of classical works written especially for the accordion*:
en.wiki (short) - fr.wiki (much more) - de.wiki (same as French)


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Ulalume!Ulalume! said:


> I quite enjoyed some tracks from this album of countertenor vocals with accordion accompaniment


OMG, that would be a personal hell for someone who dislikes vocal music (especially when men are singing) and accordions. Why not throw in a bit of bagpipe, ukelele and harpsichord accompaniment just to make it worse? Lol.


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## Marcos (May 3, 2021)

Not my favourite instrument for classical music, but this bit of Bach is rather enjoyable. I found it on the '"New Colours Of Bach" compilation.


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