Wheatstone Aeola Baritone Treble English Concertina & Harp!

A wee tune with a Christmas flavour, O Little Town of Bethlehem, to celebrate the arrival of my wonderful new 1923 Wheatstone Aeola Baritone / Treble English Concertina.

I played this tune in 3 octaves to show off its range.

This Concertina turned up in Oldmeldrum, home of the late, great George Morris, of Bothy Ballad fame, who was also a very fine English Concertina player. We know from recordings & photos that he played a large Concertina like this one, so it's tempting to think that this may have been his Concertina.

From this CD review, we know that George did in fact play an English Concertina: http://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/sook.htm

".. there are also a couple of pleasant surprises, in the form of a pair of English concertina tracks by George Smith Morris (known as 'The Buchan Cheil') .."

Certainly tracks 4 & 11 read as follows:

4 : George Smith Morris (English concertina), William S Morris (piano); mid August 1931; Beltona 1753
11 : George Smith Morris (English concertina), William S Morris (piano); mid August 1931; Beltona 1753

Here's a photo of George with his Concertina:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36058916/concertina.jpeg

To hear George playing his Concertina, check out Track 12: The Buchan Scottische:
http://www.allcelticmusic.com/music/74bfdd9c-d4a6-102b-803f-000f1f67beb1/Volu...

Cheers,
Dick

The Concertina in Scotland: http://englishconcertina.proboards.com/index.cgi

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Wheatstone
• Aeola
• Baritone
• Treble
• English
• Concertina
• Harp

[tentreb]

And a rare beast it is! Only about 125 Aeola Baritone-Trebles were ever produced.according to the Wheatstone ledgers. It sounds great and doubly so in you capable hands. Regards - Mike

[Ptarmi]

@tentreb Thanks, glad you enjoyed the glorious sound it makes. By the way, according to John Wild, as you say, only 123 B/Ts were produced, between 1923 & 1943, but only 8 of those were actually Metal Ended 62 key model 15s, so I do feel very privileged to be the guardian of this one. Cheers, Dick

[arcopizzicato]

wow very nice! :)

[Ptarmi]

@arcopizzicato Thanks. I think those light, delicate notes from the Harp, are the perfect foil for the rich mellow Concertina notes.

[morganjjj]

Great history.

[Ptarmi]

@morganjjj I'm still not 100% sure it relates to this Concertina, but it does seem like too much of a coincidence.

[Ptarmi]

@schmevin711 Aye Kevin, check the "Show More" info. above. I believe it might have a rather colourful history. ;-)

[schmevin711]

Wow! 88! No wonder it sounds so fine. Have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year to you and yours.

Kevin USA

[Ptarmi]

@schmevin711 Glad you enjoyed the Music Kevin. I've only had this big beastie for a few days now, so I'm still trying to get used to it. There's no way I'll sound as sweet as it does, when I'm 88 years old! :-)

[schmevin711]

I could listen to things like this all night. How lovely. What a beautiful harp and beautifully played too. The two instruments together are exquisite. What a nice Christmas gift. Thank you.

Kevin USA