Concertina History

Charles Wheatstone patents and builds the first English-system concertina, a six-sided instrument with each button playing the same note in both directions.

Carl Friedrich Uhlig advertises the first German-system concertina, which he called a “20 töniges Accordion” [Chambers], with one or two rows of buttons and each button playing different notes on push and pull. This instrument, probably rectangular in shape, was the ancestor of the Anglo concertina, the bandoneon, and Chemnitzer and Carlsfelder concertinas.

Other makers of German concertinas appear in Germany. Other makers of English concertinas appear in England.

English makers, probably starting with Nickolds, make the first “Anglo-German” concertinas, combining English construction and hexagonal shape with German note layout. German makers begin making six-sided concertinas, primarily for export to England. These English and German concertinas are often similar to each other in keyboard layout and external appearance but are very different in internal construction.

English makers, possibly starting with George Jones, add a third row of buttons to the Anglo-German concertina to make the instrument more chromatic. Jones continues making concertinas until around 1905.

German makers make larger and larger square concertinas with more and more buttons in several layouts, eventually known as Bandonions, Chemnitzer concertinas and Carlsfelder concertinas. Bandonions eventually become the key instrument for Tango music in Argentina; Chemnitzers become popular with musicians of Eastern European descent in the Great Lakes area of the U.S.

Wheatstone makes the rectangular 24-key “duett” or “double” concertina. This is the first duet-type concertina, with each button playing the same note in both directions and with a design intended to facilitate melody played on the right hand and accompaniment on the left.

Former Wheatstone employee Louis Lachenal begins manufacturing concertinas at his own firm. The Lachenal firm goes on to make many concertinas (perhaps more than any other British maker) until 1933 when it was absorbed by Wheatstone.

John Crabb begins to manufacture concertinas. His descendants continue the Crabb firm until 1989.

Charles Jeffries sells his first instruments under the Jeffries name, though they may have been partly or completely made by (initially) Jones or (later) Crabb until possibly as late as the early 1890s. Jeffries, followed by his sons, make concertinas until about 1930.

John Hill Maccann patents his duet concertina, expanding Wheatstone’s prior “duett” system to make it fully chromatic. Maccann system instruments manufactured by Lachenal and later by Wheatstone, too.

John Butterworth patents what becomes known as the Crane or Triumph duet system, manufactured by Lachenal (initially for Crane & Sons Ltd.) and later by Wheatstone and Crabb, too.

Jeffries firm develops its own duet system, but it never gains many players.

Marcello Bastari begins making inexpensive concertinas in Italy. Production continues to the present day (successor names of Bastari’s production are Stagi, Brunner and Concertine Italia).

World Accordion Review magazine in the U.K. introduces a new concertina section, edited by Kenneth Chidley of the Wheatstone company.

International Concertina Association founded in London, UK, and begins publication of its “News-Sheet” which eventually becomes Concertina World magazine and is still published today.

Wheatstone produces the May Fair line of lower-priced concertinas using flat-mounted accordion reeds. These are early examples of “hybrid” concertinas but did not sell well and production discontinued after a few years.

Colin Dipper starts making professional-quality concertinas. His family continues to make them today.

Brian Hayden invents the Hayden Duet system.

Neil Wayne begins publication of the Concertina Newsletter (later called Free Reed). Published until 1976, this was the first periodical of the concertina revival.

Wheatstone firm stops making concertinas. Wheatstone name, equipment and rights sold soon afterwards to Steve Dickinson who continues making concertinas under the Wheatstone name until the present day.

Neil Wayne’s Free Reed Records issues around 12 albums of contemporary concertina players from Ireland and England, many later reissued on CD.

Concertina player Noel Hill & fiddler Tony Linnane record their self-named album of Irish traditional music. Noel Hill’s virtuoso playing and concertina teaching lead to the spread of Irish-style Anglo concertina playing in Ireland and around the world.

First issue of Concertina Magazine published in Australia. Final issue published in 1988 (?)

First issue of Concertina (later called Concertina & Squeezebox) magazine published in the U.S. Final issue published in 1995.

Manufacture of inexpensive concertinas sold under many brand names begins in China and continues to this day.

Concertina Connection firm founded by William “Wim” Wakker, eventually producing a full line of concertinas from student to professional level in English, Anglo and Hayden Duet systems.

Concertina FAQ launched as the first significant concertina-focused website.

Concertina.net website, founded and run by Paul Schwartz in Canada, initiates its online forum which is still very active today.

Free Reed Journal, including many concertina-related articles, published under the auspices of the Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York.

Concertina Library website created as a “Digital Reference Collection for Concertinas.” Site not updated after 2007 but still contains much valuable material.

Peer-reviewed journal Papers of the International Concertina Association (PICA) launched as a joint project of the ICA and the Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Final issue published in 2015.

Release of Anglo International, a 3-CD set of a wide variety of current and historic Anglo concertina recordings.

“Concertinas are Cool” Facebook group started, with over 4000 members as of this writing.

Release of English International, a 3-CD set of a wide variety of current and historic English concertina recordings.

BGK/Schaumanufaktur, the last firm in a very long tradition of makers of small German-style concertinas, goes out of business.

Online site Concertina Journal launched.

First World Concertina Day, organized by the ICA.