The ICA Library is a unique collection of music specially written or arranged for the concertina. Most of the published music dates from the mid to late 19th Century and provides an interesting history of the style of playing from that era and the group of musicians who were the first to promote and popularise the instrument. When a piece of music, “A Romance for Aeola, Concertina or Violin” by Clementine Ward came up for sale recently I was intrigued to learn more about the composer.
Played and recorded by Chris van de Kuilen, piano and Pauline de Snoo, Concertina, 15-09-2014
The library already held two pieces of music by a John C. Ward, arrangements of Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat and a Medley Overture of English tunes, and I wondered if there was any connection with Clementine. A brief search on the internet revealed there was – Clementine was the daughter of John Charles.
The music was published in Concertina World 459, September 2014