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Resources for Free Bass Accordion (Quint & Chromatic Systems)

Hi Jerry, I bought a copy from sheetmusicplus.com. It was $15.99 (plus $5.99 shipping/handling), total $21.98. It took several weeks to arrive but I had lots of other material to work on too.

I'm currently in the process of ordering some individual pieces by Ciconia (Late Medieval), Dowland (Renaissance), Franck (Romantic). Seems I'm always behind the times... :unsure:
Only in the best of ways possible! :D
 
Only in the best of ways possible! :D

Thanks Jerry!

I'm inspired by others, and the book Raccolta Di Studi Per Fisarmonica A Bassi Sciolti by Eliana Zajec is a prime example. There are some studies in it that sound like they could have been written 500 years ago. They have a simplicity and a gravitas that can transport you to a different time and place. I think the book is pretty much an accordion manual of preparation for the works of composers from the baroque, renaissance and even medieval era. I've rarely been so impressed with a music book.

I think there is a tendency in some quarters of the Italian fisarmonica classica to seek to rediscover musical antiquities and adapt/interpret them with the accordion. For example, I was listening to a new recording by Ivano Paterno recently where the work of Josquin des Prez was played on accordion (and also some contemporary compositions inspired by the composer were written and contrasted with des Prez' work).

Here's an example of a des Prez motet on accordion:

 
it’s good to hear that you can order from Deffner online now because they were very difficult to deal with before. I’m going to check their website.their catalogue is the most comprehensive in North America.
I think there’s a store in London called Presto. They had a lot of music I had never heard of and they actually converted the currency for me on their site. I think that’s the name but I’m not sure.
The selection in Europe is incredible compared to anything you’ll find in music stores in the new world. Liberty Bellows claims to have the largest catalogue-its very good but not as extensive as dealers in Europe.

In the late eighties I was in Budapest and a music store was selling sheet music for pennys.. This was far from my accordion study days but had I known I’m sure I could have walked out with a suitcase of sheet music for less than ten dollars. Oh for the good old days of communism.
Does anyone remember Pettelmans across from Carnegie hall in New York? It was a super snobby store.
I asked the sales person if they have any accordion music and he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. But he did show me their small section. Decades ago off Broadway there was a street in New York full of accordion dealers but they’re all gone now.
 
Thanks Jerry!

I'm inspired by others, and the book Raccolta Di Studi Per Fisarmonica A Bassi Sciolti by Eliana Zajec is a prime example. There are some studies in it that sound like they could have been written 500 years ago. They have a simplicity and a gravitas that can transport you to a different time and place. I think the book is pretty much an accordion manual of preparation for the works of composers from the baroque, renaissance and even medieval era. I've rarely been so impressed with a music book.

I think there is a tendency in some quarters of the Italian fisarmonica classica to seek to rediscover musical antiquities and adapt/interpret them with the accordion. For example, I was listening to a new recording by Ivano Paterno recently where the work of Josquin des Prez was played on accordion (and also some contemporary compositions inspired by the composer were written and contrasted with des Prez' work).

Here's an example of a des Prez motet on accordion:


(Trivia) If I remember correctly, Ivano Paterno plays a piano accordion with a quint converter (160 basses, i.e., 4 octave in the left hand).
 
My equivalent of this book would be this:
1693697381601.png
Created by none other than the man that was Michael Bridge's teacher himself. :)
Interesting. Would you recommend this book? Seems out of print although it looks like they might have copies at Treadwell's
 
hi mtj, a local accordionist here in Melbourne Australia, Anthony Schulz plays a giullietii continental with the three extra rows of free bass "bassetti". he has been to Canada and studied with Macarello and considers this book his bible for freebass. I have been trying to purchase a copy from tredwells but they seem to be having trouble with their website. they emailed me and said they were working on it and would get back to me when I could continue with the purchase. I am an experienced stradella player who has recently taken the plunge into freebass. I have gone down the quint path. thought I'd pick up this book just in case I ever want to try this system.
 
Interesting. Would you recommend this book? Seems out of print although it looks like they might have copies at Treadwell's
It’s as good as any for what it offers, so yes, if it was good enough for the RCM, it is something that I would recommend.
 
Bill Palmer Jr. Included a chart of the quint layout, but with many notes left out, in this thread; here is a fleshed out version I've put together. I added the new notes by hand, it's not a perfect fit, but gets the job done. The only complete chart I could find online is, I assume, the work of someone overseas, as it substitutes H for B.

Also I used F# instead of Gb. Stupid enharmonic equivalents! It'll always be F# in my heart.

All of this motivated by my purchase of a Titano Virtuoso. Looking forward to getting my mitts on that, after playing C system forever.
 

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The only complete chart I could find online is, I assume, the work of someone overseas, as it substitutes H for B.

Also I used F# instead of Gb. Stupid enharmonic equivalents! It'll always be F# in my heart.
It's not just the F♯ but also what comes beyond. When notating Stradella basses by name, there is no such thing really as enharmonic equivalents: you add sharps in one direction, and flats in the other. It seems weird to stray from that convention (which allows unique labels within one row) for quint basses.
 
Does anyone know how I could contact Bill Palmer Jr please in relation to possible publications on the free bass system(s)? He mentioned he was researching it back in 2014. I wonder if he published anything during his research?
 
Does anyone know how I could contact Bill Palmer Jr please in relation to possible publications on the free bass system(s)? He mentioned he was researching it back in 2014. I wonder if he published anything during his research?
I know he has a facebook presence... you may want to reach out there?
 
Beethoven music.jpg

I have recently spent a little while studying Hallo Beethoven and have learned some of the pieces from its pages. The book here was arranged for accordion, with left hand system for Quint free bass and also C system free bass.

I wanted to take a few moments here to consider some parts of the book that I found particularly interesting. I must say I was surprised at how well the music worked on accordion. The pieces are quite simple and the notes fit very well under the fingers on my accordion (PA with Quint free bass). In addition, I was also impressed with how pleasant the music sounds on accordion.

Almost all of the works are from the Werke ohne Opuszahl - that is "WoO" or works without numbers. The majority of the music comes from either WoO11 (seven Ländler composed for two violins and cello - though the earliest remaining versions are for piano, 1799) and WoO13 (twelve dances originally for orchestra, though like WoO11, only the early piano versions remain, 1792 to 1797).

To my ear, the WoO11 pieces have a "merry" folk dance style, and this may be one of the reasons why they sound so good on accordion. I have always found the connection and influence of folk/traditional forms on classical music to be inspired, and this blend is particularly compelling when interpreted on the accordion. I was also struck by how faithful to the piano music many of the accordion arrangements really are.

For example, on Ländler No. 6 WoO11, here's the piano version with visible score:



The accordion version, that matches the above work Hallo Beethoven, played by Ivano Paterno, is just the same in content as the piano score, but sounds even more lovely to me:



I would perhaps make note of the use of Alberti bass throughout the piece, a recurring technique in Beethoven's and other Classical composers work, like Haydn etc. This style of harmonic accompaniment is particularly well suited to the Quint free bass system due to its convenient note layout.

I'll conclude this short post now with something a little different... Here's a little fugue in three voices, that is stated on the accordion recording (Ivano Paterno) on Youtube as WoO31, but my understanding is that it is Hess 237, No. 4 in D minor - a simple study of counterpoint in three voices. Interestingly the accordion sheet music has been arranged (by Maestro Battiston) in C minor instead of D minor, so is slightly lower in pitch, but otherwise it is very close to the original version.

Here's a nice organ version:



A piano version:



The Accordion version, per the book Hallo Beethoven (key lowered to C minor):



So, yeah... I'd highly recommend Hallo Beethoven for those interested in free bass accordion. It's ace!​
 
Very nice miniatures!

I was also listening to Ivano Paterno doing some Josquin he certainly likes being off the beaten track..
 
Beethoven music.jpg

I have recently spent a little while studying Hallo Beethoven and have learned some of the pieces from its pages. The book here was arranged for accordion, with left hand system for Quint free bass and also C system free bass.

I wanted to take a few moments here to consider some parts of the book that I found particularly interesting. I must say I was surprised at how well the music worked on accordion. The pieces are quite simple and the notes fit very well under the fingers on my accordion (PA with Quint free bass). In addition, I was also impressed with how pleasant the music sounds on accordion.

Almost all of the works are from the Werke ohne Opuszahl - that is "WoO" or works without numbers. The majority of the music comes from either WoO11 (seven Ländler composed for two violins and cello - though the earliest remaining versions are for piano, 1799) and WoO13 (twelve dances originally for orchestra, though like WoO11, only the early piano versions remain, 1792 to 1797).

To my ear, the WoO11 pieces have a "merry" folk dance style, and this may be one of the reasons why they sound so good on accordion. I have always found the connection and influence of folk/traditional forms on classical music to be inspired, and this blend is particularly compelling when interpreted on the accordion. I was also struck by how faithful to the piano music many of the accordion arrangements really are.

For example, on Ländler No. 6 WoO11, here's the piano version with visible score:



The accordion version, that matches the above work Hallo Beethoven, played by Ivano Paterno, is just the same in content as the piano score, but sounds even more lovely to me:



I would perhaps make note of the use of Alberti bass throughout the piece, a recurring technique in Beethoven's and other Classical composers work, like Haydn etc. This style of harmonic accompaniment is particularly well suited to the Quint free bass system due to its convenient note layout.

I'll conclude this short post now with something a little different... Here's a little fugue in three voices, that is stated on the accordion recording (Ivano Paterno) on Youtube as WoO31, but my understanding is that it is Hess 237, No. 4 in D minor - a simple study of counterpoint in three voices. Interestingly the accordion sheet music has been arranged (by Maestro Battiston) in C minor instead of D minor, so is slightly lower in pitch, but otherwise it is very close to the original version.

Here's a nice organ version:



A piano version:



The Accordion version, per the book Hallo Beethoven (key lowered to C minor):



So, yeah... I'd highly recommend Hallo Beethoven for those interested in free bass accordion. It's ace!​

Hey Stewart, where did you get this?
 
Hi Tom,

Well, I go online... I did a quick check just now and it appears All Sheet Music and Presto Music have it.

Here's another piece that's the very first one in the book, entitled Danza Campestre (a rural or country dance) coded elsewhere as WoO11 Ländler No.3, so simple and effective. In this piece I make sense of the left hand "work" simply in using the same locational footprint (if using Quint system) as playing D & D min and A & A min. So really, there's nothing to it, it's just playing a subtle harmony based on single notes in the low and middle octaves.

Here's the WoO11 Ländler No.3, both on piano and free bass accordion. It's just the same music, no transcriptions required...



 
Something a little different...

Here's the website of Ivano Biscardi, an Italian concert accordionist, teacher and composer.

On his website some of his scores are freely available.


A flavour of his work:


It's all a bit modern and advanced for my taste, but I guess it shows what some accordionists can do... I think I'll stick with the Beethoven miniatures. :D
 
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Something a little different...

Here's the website of Ivano Biscardi, an Italian concert accordionist, teacher and composer.

On his website some of his scores are freely available.


A flavour of his work:


It's all a bit modern and advanced for my taste, but I guess it shows what some accordionists can do... I think I'll stick with the Beethoven miniatures. :D

Wow, interesting stuff, thanks Stewart. The 2 Landlers seem a bit fast for dancing, but cool. Well I was stumbling around on these strange YouTube channels this one popped up which you might know and/or like. Maybe something like “I no longer feel my heart…”?

 
WoO70 is beautiful! Sounds quite difficult though. Would be a good challenge, and is quite... erm... :unsure: ...classic in style... which I like. :) It's been transcribed for free bass accordion by Ivano Battiston and I believe it is available here:
Omg what a rabbit hole! Way over my head I fear. Seems to be from an opera about a beautiful (of course) “molinara” or owner of a mill, Rachelina, who can’t decide which suitor suits her. Naturally. In her heart she no longer feels the bright lights of love so in typical early operas she probably has to jump around a bit. I don’t know how it turns out. La donna è mobile, naturalmente. But Beethoven seems to have been inspired to score it. So yeah, just sayin…. PS. It’s fall here and finally appropriate for wool bonnet which I will try at the market tomorrow if this weather keeps up….
 
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