Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra

The Concerto for Accordion was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Following the success of the Harp Concerto and the Violin Rhapsody I dared to suggest that I might write a new work for my friend, the accordionist Joseph Macerollo, to coincide with an international accordion convention to be held in Toronto in 1993.

The music director of the TSO at the time was the foreigner Günter Herbig. ‘I hate zis instrument!’ was his first response. To be frank, I was not sure myself whether this buffoon of an instrument could be turned into an upstanding gentleman, but I knew how much Joe would like – just for once – to put on his tuxedo without everyone smiling or smirking. I managed to arrange a meeting for us with the maestro, and when Joe illustrated the many tone colors available on the free bass accordion, the maestro’s antipathy cooled sufficiently so that I could begin work. A lucky suggestion from the orchestra players that the new concerto might feature instruments normally neglected in the concert repertoire (contra bassoon, bass trombone and English horn) provided precisely the colors that would blend best with the accordion, and I was glad to favor these instruments in the orchestration.

The summer of 1992 was tumid with accordion-mania. Joe visited me several times, tried out sections of the new work and showed me some new effects he had devised. By October a very romantic yet dignified concerto in three movements had been completed and was successfully performed. I even received a note from Maestro Herbig complimenting me on the work, though he never deigned to perform it again. R. Murray Schafer