The Accordion in the 19th Century - Gorka Hermosa

Fig. 83: Müller’s method (Vienna, 1834) 156 . Fig. 84: Howe’s method (USA, 1843) 157 .
Leaving methods aside, another area in which the accordion approached the
classical world was concerts. The first accordion concert took place on the 8 June 1831
in London featured by Johann Sedlatzek (1789-1866), an outstanding flutist at the time,
who, at the end of one of his recitals, played a piece with the accordion, as an encore;
although according to The Times, the instrument “however, has little, besides its
novelty, to recommend it”. Apart from the unfavorable review, the fact that a serious
newspaper like The Times noted it, imbues the event with significant transcendence,
moreover when a few months before, on the 3 rd of March, a short mention of the
accordion had already appeared in this newspaper. [288, 415, 416]
Johann Sedlatzek (1789-1866) 158 was born in Glogówek (Silesia, Poland).
Since his childhood he had shown great musical talent and no interest to take over his
father tailor shop, so when Count Franz von Oppersdorff (1778-1818) 159 discovered his
talent and offered to provide for his education, he did not think twice. At the age of 17
he started to play for the orchestra of Glogówek’s court, where he met Beethoven. He
left his home town and lived first in Opava, then in Brno, and later settled in Vienna.
There he played in the Serenadach and since 1812 in the Theater an der Wien. In 1818
he started to perform very successful recitals in Zurich, Prague, Berlin, Rome, Paris and
London, where he married an English woman in 1826, and where he eventually settled
his residence. In those years he led an intense musical life as an instrumentalist,
composer and concert organizer. In 1842, his wife passed away, after which, he decided
to return to the city that had had a stronger influence on him: Vienna. As a composer he
wrote numerous variations on fashionable themes (one of his best known is Souvenir à
Paganini for flute and piano, which is still played today), concerts for flute and a large
amount of transcriptions for flute... influenced by musicians such as Weber, Paganini,
Moscheles… He was the flautist on the premiere of Beethoven’s 9 th symphony in 1824,
he was one of the pioneers in using the flute in G, he was dedicated some works by
composers such as Kuhlau… “Virtuoso flautist with powerful style” 160 . He often took
part in charity concerts organized in Vienna by the Altonato Women Association, which
reflects his social sensibility. He was said to be the life of any party, which might
explain the fact that he closed his concert on 8 June 1831 interpreting a piece with a
musical toy like the accordion. It is not attested that he played it again in front of an
audience, although the fact that such a musical personality played it on stage makes
154
Fig. taken from: Monichon [202] page 39.
155
Fig. taken from: Monichon [202] page 42.
156
Fig. taken from: http://ookaboo.com/o/pictures/picture/12214858/The_first_pages_in_Adolph_Müllers_accord
157
Fig. taken from: http://openlibrary.org/works/OL1487060W/The_complete_preceptor_for_the_accordeon
158
Also known as Jean Sedlazek, [127, 238, 283, 414]
159 th th
Count Franz von Oppersdorff (1778-1818), a great lover of music, who commissioned Beethoven his 4 and 5 Symphonies.
[127, 238, 283, 414]
160
According to The London literary gazette and journal of belles lettres, arts, sciences, etc of the year 1827. [414]
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