The history of the accordion
The history of the accordion is short but fast and intense, so much so that the person who registered the invention as an accordion in 1829, the Austrian Marck Muñichz, had to abandon his rights to the invention in 1835, due to the notable advances to which it had been subjected. The European origin of free-reed instruments seems to lie in oriental blown organs, which had spread throughout Russia in the 18th century, although not as a popular instrument.
The invention is attributed to the Chinese emperor Nyu-Kwa, 3000 years before Christ (the Sheng), although the replacement of reed tongues with metal ones is somewhat later. Based on the simple reed, numerous inventors developed different elements. From the Parisian Pinsonnat, who invented the typophone, which gave a single fixed note, to Eschembach, who united several.
In 1810, various Western blown organs appeared, and in 1821, Buschman, in Berlin, manufactured the mundarmónika, from which the well-known harmonica is derived, placing a series of reeds in a row, each of which produces a different note.
His son, by incorporating a small bellows, created the andaolina. But it was Cyrill who obtained the patent, building an instrument equipped with a bellows and five buttons, each of which, when pressed, produced two chords, one when the bellows was opened and a different one when the bellows was closed. These ten chords were enough to accompany many songs, and were very easy to use and learn in popular music, especially when in 1831 Isoard Mathieu replaced the chords on each button with two individual notes that were produced one when opening and another when closing the bellows. It was thus equipped with two diatonic scales, giving rise to the diatonic accordion.
In 1834 Foulón added the alterations, creating the first chromatic accordion. The evolution of the instrument continued and in 1854 Malhaús Bauer replaced the buttons with keys, creating the “piano accordion”, which they called the “poor man’s piano”.
Around 1880, a second keyboard was added on the right side, consisting of four buttons that allowed two chords each to be played as accompaniment to the melody. This is how the diatonic accordion was formed, which has survived to this day in the musical tradition of almost all peoples.
There are new technical modifications, such as putting two identical reeds on each note, so that the same note is given when opening and closing the bellows, which form the basis of modern concert accordions.
