Concertina World

International Concertina Association

Newsletter - # 436 – March 2007 Contents Page Editorial 3 Some thoughts from the chair… 4 Concertina Band weekend at Hawkwood 2007 6 Concertina players speak 8 Interview Allan Atlas 9 Ramble 2 15 Concertina events and organisers; - WCCP 17 - Lewes Arms Folk Club 19 - Swaledale Squeeze 20 - Concertinas at Witney 20 - Yorkshire Concertina Club 20 - USA 21 Playing the anglo concertina/offering from An anglophile 22 Lavinia McDougall 24 Playing tunes by ear cd 25 Players wanted 27 Did you know that..... 27 Instruments for sale 28 Exercise for English concertina 28 ICA contact points 32 Picture on cover thanks to Jenny Cox. Editorial: This is going to be my first effort to put a Newsletter together. I will never be able to compete with Gill in her easy way of talking to you through her writing. She has the gift of writing in a way as if she is talking which makes you feel as if it was only you she is talking to. For me this is quite a new experience but I will do my best to find interesting topics and I do hope that many of you will send possible contributions. Do write about anything that might interest other people and we will look into it. I say “we” because I am trying to involve more people. I believe that there should be an editorial team. That will help to keep the publication of the Newsletter going at all times. At the moment I put together most of it and then mail all to Jon who looks after the actual printing and packaging and posting. Also this first time there will be some sorting out of the editing process on the computer with the new software and such. When you read this you see the result of it all. I have already discovered possibilities which I may try in next edition. Maybe one of you who is regularly on the Internet can contribute something about interesting websites and or news? Please do bear in mind that without contributions from all you concertina players who attend events or are on your own playing in your own little room, there may not be so much news to publish. The concertina world is small and large at the same time. The concertina world is so large that no editor can go to all the places in the world where concertina events happen. Be they ever so small. So please do write us. I promise you an interesting interview next time and some views on how to become an “active” concertina player......

Pauline

*************************** Some thoughts from the “Chair” …

An era ends and a new age opens – sad and exciting days at one and the same time. For those who are new members in the Association – our long time Newsletter Editor – Gill Noppen Spacie – has hung up her editorial pen and now awaits, favourite armchair warmed, box of choco- lates at the ready – for the arrival of a Concertina World that she didn’t create – a unique experience after thirteen years! I’m sure Gill would be the first the say it was hard work – but fun! Well, maybe “Fun” is an exaggeration bearing in mind the number of people who seemed to enjoy attacking her endeavours – let me direct a few words to those people (and you know who you are).

From my experience of helping to get the Magazine out I know it is a very difficult and time consuming task – trying to make it look interesting, chasing up items of news, articles and converting them all into print ready material – processing photographs, indexes, chasing up the music supplement … and then when it’s all complete – dealing with the print- ers, collecting the publication, labelling 300 + envelopes – inserting the printed material – attaching the appropriate stamps and getting everything into the post – for your reading pleasure! I know that the great majority of the Association members are warmly grateful for all Gill’s hard work and I know full well that much that Gill has done has shaped the Association into what it is today. To all of those members may I express my personal thanks for the support you gave Gill in letter and via personal contacts…

To the minority – the moaners, the over demanding and opinionated … congratulations – you have got your “way” - Gill has now retired as the editor – not I might add, just because of your activities – her health has been “fragile” for some time and she has suffered continual chronic pain for many years now. Of course that has been none of your concern – all you good people wanted was your magazine, delivered on time and containing lots of interesting items referring only to the concertina and concertina playing! The only pleasing aspect of the situation is that this minority can probably be counted in the fingers of one hand and are totally unrepresentative of our membership! I won’t suggest that they should be dismissed as unimportant – it is only by constructive criticism that we grow and improve – but I would ask that the critical pens get put away for a while – to allow our new Editor to get her feet firmly under the table before you start to judge her (though congratulations and encouragement would be welcome!).

And – yes – we have a new Editor – I (Jon McNamara) have hung up my temporary editorial pen (though I will keep working on the Music Supplements) and have handed the whole kit and caboodle to PAULINE DE SNOO. Pauline approached me at Witney 2006 and vol- unteered to take on the Newsletter if I was in agreement. What joy!!

On first glance Pauline is a petite, attractive woman with a hesitant shy smile – but underneath there is a very bright intellect and a steely deter- mination. She certainly ranks as one of the worlds leading concertina players – with a deep understanding of classical music and the educa- tional aspects of the instrument. I suspect we will see/read a more serious tone in Concertina World with contributions from players that Gill and I could only refer to in hushed whispers! Not that this allows you, the members, off the hook – an association is only a loose amalgama- tion of separate parts – the glue that keeps it together is communication. So send your serious contributions to Pauline – your articles, thoughts about concertina playing, historical items - anything that cannot be grouped under the generic title of “gossip”. The social news – the “Hatch/ Match and Dispatch” (ie births, marriages and deaths) of the concertina world should be sent to Gill (or to me) Such news is IM- PORTANT – in my meetings with people over the past year I am told that it is the human contact the Concertina World brings them that is more important than the actual concertina news. So – get your news into Gill – write, ring or email – but send it - don’t hide it away!

While Pauline does all the hard work – I shall get on with the Music Supplements – something I really enjoy doing. I must say that I have been delighted with the response to the “themed” supplements – and after the Will Atkinson supplement I was sent suggestions for three more themes – inclusive of being sent the “dots” – which saves me a great deal of searching. So, if you have any thoughts on a theme – please let me know – an artist, a composer or even better – maybe a collection of your own tunes! I know there was some great material sub- mitted during the tune competition a few years ago – well maybe you have a small pile of scores you have written – this could be your chance to “get into print” – and for your music to enter into the national ar- chives since copies of everything we publish is held in the British Li- brary (for legal reasons) and the EFDSS.

The bottom line of all this is to welcome Pauline to her new task – and ask you all to rally round her and to support her. Secondly, it’s to thank Gill again for all of her many years of hard work – and to encourage you all to keep in contact and to share your social news with Gill.

Happy Squeezing Jon ***************************

Concertina Band weekend at Hawkwood 2007.

Most probably the Greeks had a word for it. The Germans most certainly do. They call it an ohrwurm. It means an ear worm (lest you seek refuge in pedantry let me assure you that compound nouns count as one word) and it refers to those scraps of tunes that get lodged in your brain and won’t be shifted until something else comes along and replaces them. I have a whole nest of ear worms in my brain and they come from a wonderful and most certainly full weekend of music mak- ing at Hawkwood. I don’t need the CD any more. I have all the music, now miraculously error free. I have in the past wondered just how it is possible to concentrate so intensely and for so long at a concertina band weekend. I don’t have to do so in any other part of my life. I guess the answer must be The Hawkwood Factor, that mix of excitement, pleasure and cooperative endeavour that keeps us going long after normal individuals would have rather bemused newcomer who couldn’t believe that, having started at 9 am, we were still working on the music 12 hours later. All that effort pays off though. Year on year the sound gets better as this once a year combined rehearsal and performance is enacted. The Hawkwood Con- certina Band is unique and must surely be the biggest in the world; 37 players of every conceivable variety of concertina combining to make one huge, wonderful sound. And year on year our ability to meet the demands and expectations of the conductor(s) improves so that with infinite patience we are taken (by said conductor(s), to the very zenith of our collective abilities; and then nudged just that little bit further. And that’s the magic bit. The bit that brings a smile of amazed achieve- ment and satisfaction to our faces as the last chord fades away and the baton is lowered. And then we pack it all away and say our goodbyes until next year. Just before I left Hawkwood I wandered back into the music room. Everything had been taken out; the chairs pushed back against the wall. Not even a music stand remained. I stood alone for a moment or two in the hollow silence reflecting on the sound that had filled the hall not thirty minutes before. It was still there even if the National Concertina Band is now on hold for another year. Perhaps that should be the Inter- national Concertina Band… or the World Concertina Band… or even the Universal Concertina Band. I wonder if the Martians have a word for the ear worm. Dave Bissitt

Steve Ellis plays trumpet and conducts the concertina band at Hawkwood. Next time an interview with Steve. Photo courtesy of Paul Cook. Concertina players speak:

Since I also was in the band at Hawkwood I asked the particpants to finish a sentence for me and this is part of the results:

1. Playing in a concertina band is - an excellent way to end up with a hangover - inspirational - a totally different experience to other concertina playing - I even have to remember to watch the conductor as well as everything else - stimulating and uplifting - a challenge - definitely more than the sum of its parts - where I have been aiming for all these years!!

2. The band weekend at Hawkwood is - a real treat - an annual event not to be missed, taxing at times, stretches ability, but a great feeling at the end of the weekend - out of this world - addictive - terrifying, inspiring, uplifting - a high spot of the year - great weekend, great playing - motivates me to practise - wonderful! - Is the centre of my year.

More will be published in following editions about concertina playing in general.

****************************** Interview Allan Atlas. This is to be the first interview of many more to come. At least that is what I am hoping for. I have started email interviewing several people and hope to have at least one complete interview for each edition of coming Newsletters. And not just about classical music since there are far more folk musicians amongst you all.

***** When and why did you take up the concertina and why the Wheatstone patented (English) concertina? (Did you already play other instruments?)

I began to play the concertina when I was a teenager, somewhere around 1956-57. I was studying accordion (piano accordion) with Sergei Matusewitch at the time. Sergei shared a three-room suite with his brother Boris, the concertinist, and though the two rooms in which they gave lessons were set up in such a way that they were soundproofed from one another, one could, if sitting in the waiting room in between them, hear what was going on in both rooms. One day, while waiting for a lesson with Sergei, who was also a good concertinist, I heard Boris practicing one of the unaccompanied Bach sonatas or partitas for violin (I don't remember which one, though I do recall that the Bach Chaconne from the Partita in D minor was one of his technical showpieces). I was simply "blown away." I asked Sergei what in the world Boris was playing, to which he answered: an English concertina. Well, that was it for me. After some lessons with Sergei on a 24-button instrument (if I remember correctly the first piece I ever learned to play was "Torna a Sorrento"), I switched to a 48-button (later to a 56-button) instrument and then began studying with Boris. He was a fantastic musician, terrific teacher, and absolutely wonderful human being, a "mensch," as we would call him in New York. As for why the English concertina: (1) obviously, that's what Boris played, and (2) at the time, I didn't even know there were any other kinds. However, even had I known about the Anglo and the Duet, my inclination towards classical music would likely have led me to the English. You asked about other instruments. I also played piano in dance bands, and struggled mightily on the viola, which I learned at New York's High School of Performing Arts (anyone whose major instrument was not already an orchestral instrument had to learn one or another of the strings; they assigned those by the size of one's hands). A brief note about the "PA" (as it was called): believe it or not, there was another concertina player there, also a student of Boris. Every Spring, the Music Department (there was also Dance and Drama) mounted a concerto concert, and during my senior year, the other concertinist and I did the Bach Concerto in D minor for two violins with the school string orchestra. I might just note that I also played an occasional oboe part (on the concertina, of course) in the PA symphonic band, and that I once did the oboe part of the Mozart Oboe Quartet with three string players. And this use of the concertina as a "substitute" for violin or one or another of the woodwind instruments fits right in with the nineteenth-century view of how the English concertina could be used, a view most sympathetically expressed by so astute a music critic as George Bernard Shaw (see PICA, vol. 3).

Who was the other concertina player you played the duet with? Is he/she still playing?

The other concertina player was named Martha Becker; I haven't seen her since we graduated from high school in 1960. The only thing I know is that she went to the University of Wisconsin.

You say: "And this use of the concertina as a "substitute" for violin or one or another of the woodwind instruments fits right in with the nineteenth-century view of how the English concertina could be used, a view most sympathetically expressed by so astute a music critic as George Bernard Shaw (see PICA, vol. 3). " I like to know if you agree or why you think that the concertina should have its own place, not be a substitute for something else.)

I think it depends on what we're trying to do. If our aim is to recreate the large-scale picture of what might be called the English concertina's "Victorian tradition," then playing Bach not only has its place, but is d downright "authentic." After all, Regondi ended his /Rudimenti/ with the opening fugue from Bach's Sonata in C for unaccompanied violin, BWV 1005, so he played Bach. He also played one of the De Beriot violin concertos. When he toured Central Europe during the winter of 1840-1841 with the cellist Joseph Lidel, he played music originally written for violin and cello. Likewise, we know that Blagrove and Alsepti performed violin music (George Case even produced an arrangement of one of the movements of Beethoven's "Kreutzer" sonata) and that the Regondi-Blagrove-Case-Sedgwick concertina quartet played Beethoven string quartets. Moreover, this appropriation of violin music wasn't limited to the professionals. We know that in the early 1870s Arthur James Balfour and Mary Gladstone (the prime minister's daughter) spent hours playing Handel sonatas for violin and flute (Balfour on the concertina, Mary at the piano--sometimes a second concertinist would join them, and they'd play Handel Trio Sonatas). In fact, Balfour even played excerpts from Handel oratorios on the concertina, and there are many arrangements for concertina of movements from those works (I know this because I've just finished writing an article on Balfour as concertinist, basing it on Mary Gladstone's diaries). So the Victorian period had a very rich tradition of playing music originally written for the violin and flute. In fact, as I show in my article "Ladies in the Wheatstone Ledgers," concertina manufacturers used this tradition as an implicitely gendered selling point for the instrument. Since both violin and woodwinds were pretty much off limits to "well- bred" English women until the 1870s (the violin because of its long association with the devil and it's female-like curves, the winds. . .[this is a family magazine]; anyway, the Royal Academy of Music did not ad- mit its first female violin student until 1872), the manufacturers adver- tised the concertina (and we're talking only about the English concertina) as a means with which women could gain entrance to the violin and wind repertories. On the other hand, I really do wish that more concertinists would take a look at the repertory written specifically for the instrument. To be sure, much of the music of Regondi and Blagrove requires nothing less than a virtuoso. But there's plenty of other stuff that doesn't break the fingers. I have Macfarren's four lovely pieces in mind, or the little /Andante/ by Julius Benedict. These are not very difficult, and they're really nice little pieces. Yes, one does need a pianist to make complete musical sense out of them, but that provides an excuse for a nice social occasion. And yes, you can't buy the music at the local music store, but the ICA library has a vast library of such music. In the end, then, I think that concertinists who want to want to”victorianize" themselves should play the original repertory for the instrument and fill that out with the likes of Bach or Handel or anything else that they can handle (no pun intended). Why not? If I can be said to have an agenda, it's simply this: there's a wide world of music out there. Play and enjoy as much of it as possible!

You did not play the concertina for some 20 years. How did you come back to it and was that also when or why you started to write you book?

Before I answer your question directly, let me tell you why I didn't play the instrument for twenty years. In 1971 I joined the musicology faculty at Brooklyn College, The City University of New York (CUNY). Simply put: the name of the game was "survival" (or, as it's often called, "publish or perish"). Unfortunately, publishing about the concertina didn't seem to be the way to survive. So for almost the next two decades, all of my scholarly work was in the area in which I had done my dissertation: music in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy. During that time I picked up the concertina once, in order to play in an ensemble that was performing a contemporary piece in which the concertina was included; if I remember correctly the composer was a fellow named Earl Kim. Otherwise the concertinas (I had two Wheatstone Aeolas, one from 1913, the other a post-war instrument) sat on the shelf and collected a great deal of dust. In the late 1980s, I began to "loosen up" a bit in terms of my scholarly work, and started doing research on Puccini, who was only then starting to receive what might be called "serious scholarly attention" (and doesn't that seem amazing?). At the same time, the field of musicology was expanding its horizons: popular music, gender studies, history from the "bottom up," etc. all began to challenge what had been the tra- ditional, "canonic" areas of research. But still the concertinas sat on the shelf. Yet throughout the 1970s-80s, I would make an occasional note about things that I came across (usually quite by accident) concerning the concertina. And then, in 1991, along came Neil Wayne's pathbreaking article in the Galpin Soci- ety Journal. It was an inspiration. And that was it! Fifteenth-century Italy and Puccini went on a back burner, and the concertina came to the fore. I wrote to the British Library for microfilms of Victorian concertina music. Thanks to Neil's generosity, I was able to look at the materials in his collection at what was then the International Concertina Museum in Belper. And after about two years, I woke up one day and said to myself that I probably had compiled enough material to write a book that would break the scholarly ice. And so I did, the one published by Clarendon Press. Looking back at the book now, however, I find it incomplete and somewhat naive at times. Thanks to the research of people like Stephen Chambers, Wes Williams, Randy Merris, Bob Gaskins, Dan Worral, and others, it's amazing how much we've learned. At any rate, as I was collecting the materials and the music for the book, it struck me that approaching the concertina from a scholarly vantage point only was not enough. Those instruments on the shelves began to beckon, and I had them fixed up by Bob Snope of the Button Box. But that wasn't enough. I honestly didn't like the way the music sounded on the Aeolas: they overpowered Macfarren's lyricism and made Re- gondi's thick chords and part writing sound kind of harsh. So the next step was acquire a few period instruments. I now have four of them (not very many by some standards), my favorite being an 1850s Wheat- stone with its original brass reeds and meantone tuning still in tact. Moreover, the instrument, which was found by my good friend David Cannata (who accompanies my at lecture-recitals) in an antique shop in Christ Church, New Zealand, has a bit of history around it: the Wheatstone sales ledgers inform us that it belonged to William Peel, who was probably the son (though possibly a nephew) of the prime minister (and I suspect that it was Peel himself, a naval officer, who took it to the South Seas). In the end, doing research on the concertina and playing the instrument are part of the same thing: one feeds and stimulates the other. I think the playing makes me a better (or perhaps at least a more interesting--may I even say "musical") researcher, while the research certainly informs what and how I play (for instance, my somewhat dogmatic insistence upon playing the Victorian repertory on period instruments only, though I really do think it sounds better on them). I'll end with one little anecdote. When I published the book on the concertina, a colleague of mine said that a publication on such a topic could only be a one-shot deal. I agreed with him. I guess I was wrong.

Fourth question: Do you have any plans for new projects, maybe new compositions for the concertina?

In answer to your question about new projects: I'm trying to put the finishing touches on an article about Lord Balfour as a concertinist and I've begun to work on an edition of Victorian music for the English concertina that will be an anthology for A-R Editions, one of the leading publishers of musicological editions in the United States. In fact, we hope to issue a recording of some of the music with the edition. After that, there's an article I'd like to do about Richard Blagrove as a teacher (thank you Stephen Chambers). And perhaps, as a retirement project, I would try to index the complete series of Wheatstone sales ledgers, the same kind of thing that I did for the women in the ledgers (that should keep me busy for a few years). By the way, the article on the "Ladies in the Wheatstone Ledgers," will be made available on Bob Gaskins's "Concertina Library" website (www.concertina.com).

As for the "new" compositions for concertina: that's probably best left to someone else. First, I'm afraid that my head is stuck in somewhat ostrich-like fashion in Victorian sands, and (2) I think there are at least a few concertinists out there who are more attuned to the music than I am. I will say, though, that I think Oliver Hunt's haunting Song of the Sea, Alla Borzova's jazzy Pinsk and Blue, and Alistair Anderson's On Cheviot Hills (for concertina and string quartet) are all terrific pieces, and I've occasionally performed both Rien Snoeren's Intermezzo and Stephen Jackman's Jazz Menagerie. (If I'm not mistaken, both the Borzova and Jackman pieces are easily available in Wim Wakker's Concertina Connection series.) But someone should do more than just write about these pieces; someone should record some of them! (As far as I know, only Alistair's piece is available.) Another worthwhile project in connection with these pieces: someone might interview one or more of the composers (I mean the non-concertinist composers) in order to get a behind-the-scenes feel of what it's like for a composer to write music for an instrument about which he or she really knows little if anything. That would be interesting. In fact, you might even consider sitting down with Hazel Leach, who, I know, has written some pieces for you. How and what did you teach her about the instrument? Obviously, one might ask: to what end are we doing all this? And my answer is much like the one I gave to another question: there's a wide, wide, very wide world of music out there, and we should try to get acquainted with as much of it as possible. Does it mean we have to love it? Of course not. But it seems to me that anyone who is really interested in the concertina should make an effort to learn a bit more about his or her favorite instrument.

Thank you very much Allan. I think that interviewing composers will be one of my next duties as editor. So I must get on with it.

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Ramble 2 by Alan Dyer

It Shouldn’t Happen to a Concertina Player

A long time ago when I was just starting out as a jobbing musician I received a telephone call which went something like:

“Hello, Alan Dyer?” “Yes” “Fred Smith(not his real name), from the Fred Smith Agency her. Now, you play accordion.” “No.” “Yes you do, my lad’s seen you and he says you’re just what we need.”

Now I did have a vague recollection of Smith junior bumping into me one day when I was practicing melodeon and here I will make the dis- tinction: I like to think of my self as a concertina player but only a melodeon owner.

“Your son saw me with a melodeon but really I only play the concertina professionally”

“Aye, well, same thing. I’ve got a couple of bookings for you.” “What do you want me to do?” “A couple of half hour spots at a German event at the such and such hotel” “You don’t want me for that sort of thing, I play diddley diddley music and stuff like that.”

But he wouldn’t take no for an answer so I decided to use the musician’s number one defence for getting rid of unwanted enquiries which is to be so expensive that there’s no chance of acceptance. For me, solo, two half hour spots, I quoted him the equivalent, in today’s terms, of about two hundred and fifty quid………………… …………………………………and the bugger accepted it.

So I turned up at this nobby hotel on the appointed date and in good time and asked a member of staff to direct me to the organizer. I knew it was a bad sign when all of the staff were wearing pretend lederhosen and doing a lot of thigh slapping.

I introduced my self to the organizer and said that the Fred Smith Agency had sent me. He seemed pleased to meet me and asked if I needed any help unloading “the gear” and were my colleagues on their way?

“What has Fred Smith told you I do?” I asked You’re a German Oompah Band.” He replied, “We’re having a Beir Celler night.”

I explained how we had both been stitched up by this incompetent agent and as we shared a beer we both drank to the imminent bankruptcy of Fred Smith. ……………………………..

Agents are a rum lot in general (apologies if any of you members are agents) but in the thirty plus years I’ve been gigging no agent has ever seen me or heard me or even asked for a demo tape/C.D. before booking me for an event and with one exception none has ever called me after the event with any sort of comment. Of course, if you are a bit late with their 15% they remember you.

One agent sent me a contract with the wrong band’s name. I called him and without apologising he explained that his clients wanted a “rural sounding” band so he had told them we were called ”The Harvesters” and where was the gig, the restaurant at Legoland, very rural. Another member of the band commented that if he ever booked us as “The Gay Ploughboys,” he would not be turning up.

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Concertina events and organisers: Part of an email from Bob Harvey which I like to share with you: I was most impressed with the work that is being done in the Stockton schools and its application is brilliant. We had hoped to fund Folk SW for another year, supplying concertina tutors and instruments to them, enabling them to introduce the instrument to children, unfortunately the lottery won’t fund another year. Sincerely yours Bob Harvey I hope that new efforts to get funding will be more successful. Thank you Bob for your kind words. You will find a list of concertina clubs and contact names on the ICA website. There is a calendar which offers dates of events and organisers. It will be good however to mention events also in the Newsletter. So here we go first of all with Bob’s own WCCP.

West Country Concertina Players is a Society that aims to promote interest in all types of concertina and to provide facilities for players to meet regularly in the West Country. The Society has been running successful concertina meetings since 1983. In addition to its meetings at Ruishton it runs two residential weekends each year at Kilve Court and also meets at Sidmouth during the Festival week. Constructive workshops are the key to all events and all abilities are welcome. If you would like to learn something about this musical instrument why not join us. If you play the concertina, or would like to play one, whether it is the English, Anglo or Duet system, then come and meet other players and participate in our various musical activities. The Membership Fee is £8 a year Renewals due in June For more information contact the Secretary, Mal Derricott, 49 Medbourne Close, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT117UA Tel: 01258 450927 email: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.wccp.info

Playing Days at Ruishton Our regular playing days in the West Country are held in Ruishton Village Hall. Ruishton is situated east of Taunton and a short distance from Junction 25 on the M5. Details are given below. We welcome all players, especially ab- solute beginners. Workshops for all systems and abilities, including band workshops. Please check before travelling if in doubt. Times 11.00 a.m. until 5.30 p.m. Fee £3 per day per person Tea/Coffee Available, morning, lunch and teatime. Lunch Approx. 1 p.m. (Bring packed lunch) PROGRAMME 2007 January 7th Ruishton. New Year Party February 4th Ruishton (Committee meeting 11am) March 23rd - 24th Kilve. Annual Concertina Weekend May 6th Ruishton July 1st Ruishton. August Sidmouth Festival – TBA September 2nd Ruishton (Committee meeting 11.15am) To Include the AGM October 19th – 21st Kilve Autumn Concertina Week- end. Residential weekends. In addition to our playing days the W.C.C.P runs two annual residential weekends in Kilve, Somerset. Annual March Concertina Weekend This is a weekend intended for intermediate and advanced players. Nationally respected musicians who play the concertina run most of the workshops. Annual October Beginner’s Weekend This is a residential weekend primarily for beginners and post beginners, and anyone wishing to try a different system, with workshops for Anglo, Duet and English concertinas. Experienced W.C.C.P. volunteer tutors run the workshops. Come and learn how to play the concertina and read music, also learn about basic concertina maintenance, repairs and much more. Sidmouth Festival West Country Concertina Players hold meetings in All Saints Church Hall during the mornings from Monday to Thursday during the week of the Festival. A warm welcome is extended to all who play the concertina, including beginners, and also to those who would like to consider learning. Bampton Fair West Country Concertina Players has also begun a concertina drop in at Bampton Fair. ****** Concertinas in Lewes Arms Folk Club in East Sussex. Valmai Goodyear sends this to you from her address: 20, St. John's Terrace, Lewes, BN7 2DL Tel. 01273 476757 Lewes Arms Folk Club, Mount Place, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1YH www.members.aol.com/lewesarmsfolk Residents: Bryan Creer, Dave Earl, Sandra Goddard, Valmai Goodyear, Su- zanne Higgins, Steve & Diane Nevill, George Oakley, Robert O'Mahony, Derek Seed

LEWES ARMS FOLK CLUB WORKSHOPS 2007 Workshops last a full Saturday and the tutor performs at the club in the evening. Booking forms are available from the club and can be printed from the website about three months before the event.

10th March - Judy Cook - Ballad forum (now booking) 17th March - Ed Rennie - English dance music for any melody instrument (now booking) 24th March - Tom McConville - Fiddle (now booking) 24th March - Aaron Jones - Bouzouki/Guitar (now booking) 24th March - Claire Mann - Flute & whistle (now booking) 2nd June - Jon Boden - Vocal harmony 2nd June - John Spiers - Melodeon 9th June - Tommy Peoples - Fiddle 30th June - Matt Seattle - Arrangement & harmony for any instrument Sun 1 July - Matt Seattle - Bagpipes 21st July - Bonnie Shaljean - O'Carolan's music for any instrument 10th Nov - Craig Morgan Robson - Vocal harmony Sun 11 Nov - Craig Morgan Robson - Ballad forum 24th Nov - Robert Harbron - English concertina 24th Nov - Emma Reid – Fiddle ******** Soon will be the Swaledale Squeeze 18 – 20 May 2007 at Grinton Lodge YMCA just outside Reeth. Tutors are Alistair Anderson, Michael Hebbert, Kate McNamara, Stuart Estell, Harry Scurfield, Paul Walker, Pauline de Snoo and band playing with Carolyn Wade. For information contact: Jane Edwards, 63 Wrenbeck Drive, Otley, LS21 2BP Tel. 01943-463804, email: [email protected].

******** And do not forget the Hands on Music weekend in Witney 29-30 Sep- tember 2007. I heard that some people are already booking rooms.... More about this event next time.

******** This year the Yorkshire Concertina Club is repeating its invitation to all concertina players to an open meeting - linked to the historic meetings we used to hold at the old Mexborough Concertina Band Club- house. As last year, this meeting will be held at MILTON HALL, ELSECAR (South Yorkshire).

The meeting will be held on SUNDAY 22nd APRIL 2007 From 10.00am (for 10.30am start) to 5.00pm (There will be a fee of £5.00 to cover room hire & refreshments) For those non-concertina players who might wish to accompany playersthere are various options in the vicinity: Next door is the Elsecar Heritage Centre & Trail Nearby is the interesting village of Wentworth Our tutors for the day will again be Carolyn Wade from the YCC & Dave Turner from the North East Concertina Players. They will lead us gently through some arrangements in parts for Con- certinas, so, if you have any Baritone or Bass instruments – please bring them along! If you are new to the Concertina please do not hesitate to come along as we will make you very welcome

THERE ARE FACILITIES FOR LUNCH WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE BUT YOU ARE WELCOME TO BRING A PACKED LUNCH. TEA & COFFEE WILL BE AVAILABLE

DIRECTIONS: From Junction 36 of the M1 – follow signs to Barnsley South on A61. After 0.2 miles at Birdwell Roundabout take 3rd exit A6135 to Chapeltown. After 0.4 miles is Hoyland Common. At traffic signal carry straight on following signs to Elsecar Heritage Centre. After approx 2 miles Milton Hall is on the left, opposite the Elsecar Heritage Centre. There is plenty of parking nearby, including in the Heritage Centre Car-park across the road.

******** If you want to know about summerschools in the USA go to this website http://www.concertina.net/kc_schools.html

******** This is an interesting item about anglo playing. Any more tips and hints from all you anglo players for next editions are welcome.

AN OFFERING FROM AN ANGLOPHILE by Alyn Roberts

Practising is a bore, but a useful exercise for anglo players, which gives pleasure at the same time that it is doing you good, is to play the tune Bobby Shafto, all in one pull.

At first you will have to stop and collapse the bellows from time to time (it's like filling your lungs to bursting point), but no matter, just press the wind valve and carry on. When you have got the hang of it, you'll be able to play the tune in one steady pull, and in a pleasing legato style, which is the object of the exercise.

What follows applies to C/G anglos:

On the left side find C, E and G on the pull: C and G are in the third row (the "G" row), buttons 4 and 5; and and G is the 4th button in the first row.

On the right find B, D and F in the middle row. These are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd burtons. Also find G in the first row, that is the 2nd button. Practise moving from one note to the next by playing the following exercise at your own speed. Of course you will have to open the wind valve frequently, but be sure to play the notes only on the pull, as pre- scribed. Don't be tempted to cheat by playing the equivalent note on the push.

Now try playing the tune itself. At first you will need to take a breath with the wind valve here and there, but as you get used to it and develop speed you will find you can play it all in one go on the one pull.

Of course, you can play nearly all of Bobby Shafto on the push notes too. The exception is F. Indeed the best way to render this tune, and all other tunes, is by a judicious combination of pushes and pulls. It's just that I have found this exercise to be very helpful in getting to know the keyboard better. "Au clair de la lune" is another good exercise too. It can be done either way, all on the pull, or all on the push. And this time we need A as well, Can anybody suggest some other good ones?

********************* Lavinia (Vena) Mc Dougall Here follows a most interesting letter fromLavinia Mc Dougall’s son. I had the pleasure of meeting her once years ago at the North London Music Festival when I was one of the three participants. Of course mrs. McDougall won. I did not participate since then because I became more and more professional and also it is not round the corner for me. It would be a shame if this one official event for the concertina were to stop. If anyone is interested please contact me. We should get a few people to play there. It is a very relaxed and friendly sort of competition.

My mother Mrs Lavinia Mc Dougall passes to me her copies of your newsletter which I read with interest. Mother reached her 97th Birthday last month. I thought that you may be interested to know that in May this year she regained the Arthur Clements' Cup in the North London Music Festival and I enclose a photograph of her with the cup and medal. The Cup was given by Arthur Clements in 1983 for the winner of the Solo Concertina section of the festival and has been competed for ever since. During the 24 years of this competition, Mother has won this trophy 12 times. As you may be aware competitors ages have ranged from 18 yr olds to Mother's age over the years, but now, sadly, it appears that this competition may be abandoned as the number of competitors has diminished. Vena and my father were with Father Lovelace, Frank Butler, Tommy Williams and others, founder members of the I. C. A. and Vena distrib- uted the newsletter worldwide for a number of years In those days, ad- dresses were hand written and stamps stuck on!!. My parents played their Old English and Duet Concertinas at many functions, one being the dedication of the Wheatstone Memorial Plaque installed at 19, Park Crescent, Regents Park where Mother and John Hutcherson played their Wheatstone concertinas and Father Lovelace made the dedication while the organiser and prime mover for this plaque, John Entract, together with Neville Crabb and members of the G. L. C. police and passers by looked on. B. B. C. recording sessions and two radio programmes plus solo performances, inspired by Frank Butler and Father Lovelace kept the music playing over the years. As a matter of interest, Mother continues to play her violin in two Lon- don orchestras (one classical, one light) with the occasional concertina solo, but is awaiting cataract operations as reading music is becoming difficult particularly when playing at classical concerts. At 97 years, Vena lives alone in North London and travels with her instruments to rehearsals and concerts by public transport. Long may she continue.

I hope that this is of interest.

Peter McDougall.

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An interesting message from Angie Bladen which led to several email reactions about possibilities to play and listen to songs on radio and internet. Maybe there is someone out there who wants to provide us with suggestions and possibilities which we will then publish in next Newsletter. Ken & Angie Bladen"

Subject: Jubilee Concertinas

Just to let you know that Jubilee Concertinas have now produced a CD of tunes to pick up by ear. The idea behind this is to encourage our players to pick up tunes by ear, there is no music provided with the CD. The tunes are each played through slowly three times for people to pick up. They are then played through slightly quicker and some are put together, for practice. A list of the tunes is given below. Tunes played by Angie Bladen and Martin Ellison If anyone is interested in a copy of the CD they are available from Angie Bladen at 36 The Oaks, Eaves Green, Chorley, Lancs. PR7 3QU. Price is £5 including p&p. Cheques to 'Jubilee Concertinas' please. Keep squeezing.

Cheers Angie Bladen

TUNES PLAYED SLOWLY FOR LEARNING

1) Monk’s March 2) Perfect Cure 3) Jack’s Alive 4) List for a Sailor 5) Trip to Knaresborough 6) Joan’s Jig 7) Church Street Polka 8) Grandad’s 9) The Clog (Slide) 10) Worcestershire Hornpipe (Step Dance Tune) 11) Minstrel’s Fancy 12) Gypsy’s Hornpipe

TUNES PLAYED A BIT QUICKER (SOME IN SETS), FOR PRACTICE

13) Monk’s March 14) Perfect Cure / Jack’s Alive 15) List for a Sailor 16) Trip to Knaresborough / Joan’s Jig 17) Church Street Polka / Grandad’s 18) The Clog (Slide) 19) Worcestershire Hornpipe (Step Dance Tune) 20) Minstrel’s Fancy / Gypsy’s Hornpipe Try this as well: Start by singing any tune you can remember from childhood. Nursery rhymes you can easily sing. Then choose any button at random as a starting note and try to play the tune by ear. Singing is the the beginning the first thing though.You will learn all sorts of different keys as well. Fellow players wanted in Lake District. Who wants to contact Penny: from: [email protected]

Subject: Concertina players in north I have just logged onto WCCP and seen your website. I play English concertina and used to play with Butleigh Court Concertina band many years ago. I now live in the north-west (Lakes) and would love to hear of other players who live in the vicinity who would like to play part music and particularly classical music as duo, trio, quartet etc. as I presently play with flute fiddle etc as I know of no other concertina players who wish to play part or band music. I wonder if you could help put me intouch with any others? I gave up playing when the children were young but have now resumed and am very keen to find other players of reasonable standard up here. Many thanks for your help Penny **********************

Did you know that Robert Harbron is playing concertina on the cd “We are the burning fire”songs from a small planet by Howard Goodall. With the choir of Christ Church Cathredral Oxford. (MET CD 1040)

If you come across any interesting cd’s on which the concertina is being played and we might never have heard about, please let us know. There is more out there than we can imagine.

********************** Instruments for sale: Good Lachenal, plays well, 48 steel reeds, 5 folds or bellows, metal buttons. Date 1925-30 Price £750 tel: 01225 460876 (Bath) Though there is one piece of information missing - We assume it's an English System instrument! ******** Morse Albion English Concertina No: 240 with Original Hard Case for sale. It is mint and unused. It was purchased from the Music Room about two years ago. Price £1200. (About £300 off the current new price) Tim Stott, Corner Cottage, Swaythorpe Farm, Thwing, Driffield, East Yorkshire, YO25 3ED Tel: 01262 470979 Mobile: 07887 948920 email: [email protected]

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Exercise for the English concertina.

Besides the music supplement I thought I ought to give you an exercise to try to play something totally different. If you have never played this sort of thing before this is the way to practise: Start by first reading through. Look at all the notes. Then play the top line and then the bottom line separately. Listen to the sound. Then take the two notes that need to be played together and work out your fingering. Take it step by step and write down your fingering so that you can remember all. From there gradually build up each time adding something. It just take a little patience and you will have learnt a lot.

*************

Who is going to fill the empty space next time? Send as much as you can.

Deadline for next issue is 29 May 2007.

We hope to publish next Newsletter in June.

Archivist : General area of interest : all published records relating to the concertina to explore or contribute contact:: Wes Williams tel: 01963 440010 Lovely Cottage, Cutty Lane, North Cadbury, Somerset, BA22 7DG Email [email protected]

Librarian : We have what maybe the largest library of Concertina Music in the world - to explore or borrow contact: Dave Bissitt tel: 01938 570446 Long Meadow, Trewern, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 8EG Email [email protected]

Newsletter Editor : all contributions (and please submit many!) to : Pauline De Snoo tel: 00 31 54 79837 Email :[email protected] or [email protected]

Secretary : For almost anything... Jon McNamara tel: 01279 656664 17, Nursery Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts, CM23 3HJ email :secretary @concertina.org

Treasurer : Collects subscriptions and maintains membership records Suzanne Higgins tel: 02084 717739 50a Caledon Road, East Ham, London, E6 2HB Email : [email protected]