Gosh, that takes me back. The concertina Adam Hart-Davis played belonged to my wife while the one with the end off belonged to me. We arranged the loan of Colin Dipper's symphonium for the show. Adam Hart-Davis was very impressive. He spent a few minutes chatting to us about concertinas and their history and then minutes later extemporised his presentation to camera of what we had told him without any script. We were just out of shot watching proceedings. A very clever man.
The concept of the free-reed had only recently arrived from China, and instrument makers were trying to figure out what to do with it. There were all kinds of failed experiments before the concertina, melodeon, accordion and mouthorgan emerged. One reason the Symphonium fell out of favour was that ladies, who were wearing corsets in this period, would faint at the piano from the effort of playing it. Wheatstone's design for the English Concertina, on the other hand, produces a portable and practical instrument with a very elegant fingering system that has remained unchanged to this day. Together with the Northumbrian pipe and its unique chanter, Wheatstone's English Concertina is one of only two instruments invented in Britain.
Gosh, that takes me back. The concertina Adam Hart-Davis played belonged to my wife while the one with the end off belonged to me. We arranged the loan of Colin Dipper's symphonium for the show. Adam Hart-Davis was very impressive. He spent a few minutes chatting to us about concertinas and their history and then minutes later extemporised his presentation to camera of what we had told him without any script. We were just out of shot watching proceedings. A very clever man.
The concept of the free-reed had only recently arrived from China, and instrument makers were trying to figure out what to do with it. There were all kinds of failed experiments before the concertina, melodeon, accordion and mouthorgan emerged.
One reason the Symphonium fell out of favour was that ladies, who were wearing corsets in this period, would faint at the piano from the effort of playing it.
Wheatstone's design for the English Concertina, on the other hand, produces a portable and practical instrument with a very elegant fingering system that has remained unchanged to this day.
Together with the Northumbrian pipe and its unique chanter, Wheatstone's English Concertina is one of only two instruments invented in Britain.
Araxá-MG/BRAZIL
There are many errors in this.