JOURNAL READERS PLEASE NOTE: This digital book is a text-only version of a CD-Rom of the same name that was published by Musical Traditions (UK) in 2012. The original CD-Rom contains almost 200 sound files that are not reproduced in this online version, because of copyright restrictions. Should you wish to hear those sound files, there are two options:
1. A physical CD-Rom copy may still be purchased from Musical Traditions for 7.5 pounds UK at this site: http://www.mtrecords.co.uk/.
2. The work has been republished by Rollston Press in book format as "House Dance" by Dan Worrall, and includes QR codes that link to all the recordings. Rollston sells its books on Amazon.com.
Meanwhile, we hope you will enjoy this online text version. Icons for the various chapters are posted at the left of your screen, and will assist you in navigating through the book; otherwise you can just select the Next button at the end of each chapter. In it, Audio tracks from the downloadable CD-Rom version are indicated as hyperlinks in red. Those links will not work in the following text-only version.
For various reviews of the original CD-Rom, please click here.
This archive showcases field recordings, many of which are little-known and rare, of musicians who played German and Anglo-German concertinas in Australia, England, Ireland, and South Africa during the latter part of the heyday of the instrument, which occurred from the 1860s to about 1920, at a time when social dances held in houses, woolsheds, and barns provided a very popular pastime for people in working class urban, rural and frontier areas. Each of the thirty-four musicians whose recordings are featured here were active players before the year 1920. The earliest-born of these musicians arrived in 1866, and all were born before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century. Most of them spent the early parts of their musical lives playing for social dances.
The project began as an adjunct to my 2009 book, The Anglo-German Concertina: A Social History (www.Amazon.com, 2 volumes). The last chapter of that work treated the subject of the playing styles of early recorded players from the only four countries where such recordings are available (England, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa). Although the book included a number of transcriptions made from these recordings, many if not most of the recordings themselves are from either privately held or hard-to-find sources, and were thus somewhat difficult for readers to find. I began to look for a way to make audio examples of the transcriptions available, and this current work is the result.
I gratefully acknowledge the generosity of individuals, institutions and companies that have allowed audio or visual archival materials to be included in this collection, or have brought them to my attention. These include:
Warren Fahey first suggested the idea of a digital book with embedded sound files rather than a paper tome, but it would never have come to fruition without the encouragement and effort of Rod Stradling at Musical Traditions. The text benefitted greatly from comments made by Sean Minnie, Wilhelm Schultz, Peter Ellis and Tim Collins. Thanks are also due to a number of individuals and organizations that have allowed the use of illustrations in my series of concertina history books; these are listed in the individual illustration captions. Finally, the project would never have advanced without the support and encouragement of my wife, Mary Ryan Worrall.
| NEXT |