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Accordion in the Americas

Helena Simonett
€112.99
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A01=Helena Simonett
Argentine tango
Author_Helena Simonett
avant-garde
bandoneon
bass
Brazil
button accordion
Cajun
Category=AVRG
Category=AVRN
Category=JBCC
Columbia
concertina
Creole
Dance
Dominican Republic
durable
elites
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_music
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnic
harmony
immigrant
Industrial Revolution
inexpensive
Italian-American
Klezmer
loud
marginalized
melody
Native American
one-man-orchestra
piano accordion
portable
sanfoninha
Texas
working-class

Product details

  • ISBN 9780252037207
  • Weight: 680g
  • Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
  • Publication Date: 28 Sep 2012
  • Publisher: University of Illinois Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
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Description
An invention of the Industrial Revolution, the accordion provided the less affluent with an inexpensive, loud, portable, and durable "one-man-orchestra" capable of producing melody, harmony, and bass all at once. Imported from Europe into the Americas, the accordion with its distinctive sound became a part of the aural landscape for millions of people but proved to be divisive: while the accordion formed an integral part of working-class musical expression, bourgeois commentators often derided it as vulgar and tasteless.

This rich collection considers the accordion and its myriad forms, from the concertina, button accordion, and piano accordion familiar in European and North American music to the exotic-sounding South American bandoneon and the sanfoninha. Capturing the instrument's spread and adaptation to many different cultures in North and South America, contributors illuminate how the accordion factored into power struggles over aesthetic values between elites and working-class people who often were members of immigrant and/or marginalized ethnic communities. Specific histories and cultural contexts discussed include the accordion in Brazil, Argentine tango, accordion traditions in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, cross-border accordion culture between Mexico and Texas, Cajun and Creole identity, working-class culture near Lake Superior, the virtuoso Italian-American and Klezmer accordions, Native American dance music, and American avant-garde.

Contributors are MarÍa Susana Azzi, Egberto BermÚdez, Mark DeWitt, Joshua Horowitz, Sydney Hutchinson, Marion Jacobson, James P. Leary, Megwen Loveless, Richard March, Cathy Ragland, Helena Simonett, Jared Snyder, Janet L. Sturman, and Christine F. Zinni.

About Helena Simonett
Helena Simonett is an assistant professor of Latin American studies, associate director of the Center for Latin American Studies, and adjunct assistant professor in the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of Banda: Mexican Musical Life Across Borders.

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