Accordions, Art, Film & Music
Vintage accordions are treasures for the poet and artist. Here you will find music performed upon the Iorio, Galanti, Scandalli, Francini, Patti Brothers & Hohner accordions. Fanfares & Reveries is a contemporary refuge for those who love acoustic music, vintage accordions, impressionistic art and the creative spirit.
An Improvisation Upon the Vintage Iorio
This vintage Iorio is an Italian-made instrument featuring 4/5 reeds in an LMMH configuration. Dating from the 1950's, this design offers 4 treble section reed-blocks, 5 rows of bass section reeds, very fine reed quality, 8 treble voices plus the master register, and 3 bass registers. These reeds remind me of the mysterious, evocative and captivating qualities of some of the pipe organs built by the French master Aristide Cavaille-Coll (1811-1899). I began listening to Classical music at a very early age and became fascinated with the richly imaginative aural landscapes found in orchestral, choral and pipe organ music. The instruments of Cavaille-Coll have been marvelously profiled in the recent DVD/CD release entitled "The Genius of Cavaille-Coll" produced by Fugue State Films under the direction of Will Fraser. This set offers positively glorious recordings and scholarly insights from a host of inspired artists including Michel Bouvard, Gerard Brooks, Ronald Ebrecht, Jean-Pierre Griveau, Olivier Latry, Eric Lebrun, Kurt Lueders, Thomas Monnet, David Noel-Hudson, Pierre Pincemaille, Daniel Roth and Carolyn Shuster Fournier.
Inspirational Recordings
Some of the most memorable organ recordings I've heard include "Great Toccatas" by Marie-Claire Alain at St-Sulpice, "Dupre, Franck & Widor" by Michael Murray also at St-Sulpice, "Lemmens Organ Works" by Ben van Oosten at Notre-Dame de Laeken in Belgium, "Midnight at Notre-Dame: Organ Transcriptions" by Olivier Latry, and "Bach Organ Music at Soissons Cathedral" by Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Durufle. These are sounds and instruments which an accordionist can only dream about, yet I find that such music inspires me, thrills me and adds fire & brilliance to my soul.