House Dance: Preface |
Preface
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:
Australia: The National Library of Australia, including Kevin Bradley, Rob Willis, and Emma Sekuless; Chris
Sullivan; Peter Ellis; Warren Fahey; Bruce Kurtz; Alan Musgrove; Bob Campbell; Bob Bolton and the Sydney Bush
Music Club; Dave de Hugard.
England: The English Folk Dance and Song Society, including Katy Spicer and Malcolm Taylor; Mark Davies;
Roger Digby; Vic Smith; Topic Records and Tony Engle; Tony Marshall; Folksound Records, including Graham
Bradshaw and Alan Day.
Ireland: Raidió Teilifís Éireann, including Malachy Moran and John Glendon; Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann,
including Siobhán Ní Chonaráin and Peter Denmead; Jim Carroll; Jim MacArdle; Free Reed Records and Neil
Wayne; Shaun Jordan; the late John Joe Healy; Joe Queally.
South Africa: Tradisionele Boeremusiekklub van Suid-Afrika; Sean Minnie; Stephaan van Zyl; Danie
Labuschagne; Kalie de Jager; Wilhelm Schultz; Rob Allingham.
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.
This digital book project is not-for-profit. Beyond recovery of costs, all proceeds from sales in Europe and North
America will be donated to the Musical Traditions singing weekends, as well as the Vaughan Williams Memorial
Library, London. In Australia, all sales benefit the National Library of Australia. In South Africa, all sales benefit
the Traditional Boeremusiek Club of South Africa.
How this digital book and archive of recordings is organized
Part I includes an introduction followed by:
a) a chapter that describes the old 'octave' manner in which concertinas were played in the era of the house dance;
b) a description of the old house dances in Ireland, Australia, England and South Africa in the words of the
musicians who played for them;
c) a discussion of the dances that were popular and their rhythms;
d) an exploration of the cultural links of this globally shared repertoire; and finally
e) a discussion of efforts to ban the house dance and ballroom-style dancing in early twentieth century Ireland,
and their subsequent effects on the traditional music repertoire and styles of concertina playing there.
Part 2 contains an archive dedicated to the musicians of earlier times (those who were active players before 1920)
who played the Anglo concertina, and to recordings of their music. There are some 170 tracks from 35 old time
concertina players. The musicians are grouped by country, and there is a biographical description for each
musician, followed by some recorded tunes from his or her playing, and a brief discussion of some of the
techniques used in playing them.
Part 2 also includes a chapter of recorded tunes from players of today who still play in the old octave manner.
There are 14 tracks from ten such modern-day musicians. There is also a brief tutorial on octave playing, and a
discussion of resources for further information on period music and dance.
Audio examples of dance tunes that are embedded throughout Part I are drawn from the archive of recordings
contained in Part II, so the reader will note a certain amount of repetition in some of the pieces between the two
Parts.
Here are links to more descriptive information:
House Dance home page and link for ordering
Table of Contents
Introduction
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:
Australia: The National Library of Australia, including Kevin Bradley, Rob Willis, and Emma Sekuless; Chris
Sullivan; Peter Ellis; Warren Fahey; Bruce Kurtz; Alan Musgrove; Bob Campbell; Bob Bolton and the Sydney Bush
Music Club; Dave de Hugard.
England: The English Folk Dance and Song Society, including Katy Spicer and Malcolm Taylor; Mark Davies;
Roger Digby; Vic Smith; Topic Records and Tony Engle; Tony Marshall; Folksound Records, including Graham
Bradshaw and Alan Day.
Ireland: Raidió Teilifís Éireann, including Malachy Moran and John Glendon; Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann,
including Siobhán Ní Chonaráin and Peter Denmead; Jim Carroll; Jim MacArdle; Free Reed Records and Neil
Wayne; Shaun Jordan; the late John Joe Healy; Joe Queally.
South Africa: Tradisionele Boeremusiekklub van Suid-Afrika; Sean Minnie; Stephaan van Zyl; Danie
Labuschagne; Kalie de Jager; Wilhelm Schultz; Rob Allingham.
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.
This digital book project is not-for-profit. Beyond recovery of costs, all proceeds from sales in Europe and North
America will be donated to the Musical Traditions singing weekends, as well as the Vaughan Williams Memorial
Library, London. In Australia, all sales benefit the National Library of Australia. In South Africa, all sales benefit
the Traditional Boeremusiek Club of South Africa.
How this digital book and archive of recordings is organized
Part I includes an introduction followed by:
a) a chapter that describes the old 'octave' manner in which concertinas were played in the era of the house dance;
b) a description of the old house dances in Ireland, Australia, England and South Africa in the words of the
musicians who played for them;
c) a discussion of the dances that were popular and their rhythms;
d) an exploration of the cultural links of this globally shared repertoire; and finally
e) a discussion of efforts to ban the house dance and ballroom-style dancing in early twentieth century Ireland,
and their subsequent effects on the traditional music repertoire and styles of concertina playing there.
Part 2 contains an archive dedicated to the musicians of earlier times (those who were active players before 1920)
who played the Anglo concertina, and to recordings of their music. There are some 170 tracks from 35 old time
concertina players. The musicians are grouped by country, and there is a biographical description for each
musician, followed by some recorded tunes from his or her playing, and a brief discussion of some of the
techniques used in playing them.
Part 2 also includes a chapter of recorded tunes from players of today who still play in the old octave manner.
There are 14 tracks from ten such modern-day musicians. There is also a brief tutorial on octave playing, and a
discussion of resources for further information on period music and dance.
Audio examples of dance tunes that are embedded throughout Part I are drawn from the archive of recordings
contained in Part II, so the reader will note a certain amount of repetition in some of the pieces between the two
Parts.
Here are links to more descriptive information:
House Dance home page and link for ordering
Table of Contents
Introduction
