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In the
1840's and 1850's, the accordion was increasing in popularity.
Children used to play the melodeon at religious festivals.
Alfred Montmarquette was one of the better accordionists in
the last part of the nineteenth century. He played the diatonic
accordion and was considered a pioneer of the diatonic accordion,
influencing many new accordionists throughout his lifetime.
He died in 1944.
From
the end of the 19th century, manufacturers had
set up shop, importing other brands also. After the turn of
the century, traditional folk music was dying out, and with
it the accordion.
It was
around this time that accordionist Pascal Marraza arrived
from Italy, and in 1915 he founded an accordion school. From
then an infrastructure began to develop, with many of the
higher class taking up the accordion. An accordionist around
this time was known as Ludwig Pine Tree, so called because
each switch of his accordions were decorated with a picture
of a pine tree.
Around
1930 the piano accordion first appeared. It is thought that
it was brought to Canada by the Italian immigrants. It's popularity
grew quickly because of the piano keyboard and soon outnumbered
the diatonics.
In 1935
Paul Drollet and Billy and Charlie Harris founded an accordion
group, called the Maontagnards Laurentiens. They played on
radio every Saturday night for 20 years. One of the best players
of the diatonic accordion in the 1930's was Philippe Bruneau.
He was the first Canadian to write completely original works
for the instrument.
There
was a general decline in interest over the next decade, but
in the 1950's the accordion gained popularity again with Italian,
German and Scandinavian immigrants bringing in new models
and reaching more people. Artists of this era include Boris
Borgstrom. He also teaches and plays the piano. He was one
of the instigators that got the accordion introduced into
universities. He wrote a textbook for the chromatic bass accordion
and also taught composition and music history. Another famous
teacher was Alf Carson, who taught Joe Morelli, who was the
first Canadian accordionist to play with a symphony orchestra.
At the
beginning of the 1970's the folk music revival brought accordion
music once again to the fore and with it numerous festivals.
Over the next two decades, workshops were opened to help service
this renewed interest.
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