[Joshua Horowitz <horowitz@mail.styria.com>: Re: CD Review]
DOKTO...@duq3.cc.duq.edu
Dear Friends,
Just received a very nice letter from Austria from Joshua
Horowitz, the accordionist who plays with Budowitz. (Remember the CD
review of Klezmer music?) Anyway, Josh tells the story about the origin
of his accordion (built in 1889 with brass reed work) which I thought I
would share with you.
Sincerely,
Henry
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Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 10:42:43 +0800
From: Joshua Horowitz <horo...@mail.styria.com>
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Organization: Budowitz/Ruth Yaakov Ensemble
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To: DOKTO...@duq3.cc.duq.edu
Subject: Re: CD Review
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Hi Henry,
thanks a lot for the kind words in your review- I was sent it by Steve, Michal and
now by you, so Im thinking about founding a society now.
We have a lot in common, apparently- Im also a composer with a masters,
though Im not a classical accordionist. My accordion was built in 1889 by Karl
Budowitz, who was born in the Czech Repuplic and moved with his brother Joseph
(who also made accordions- actually *harmonikas*- which is what they called
instruments whose buttons or keys didnt play chords automatically when
pushed) to Vienna in the middle of the 19th Century. They perfected the first
fully chromatic button accordion system - apparently developed by Franz Walter
- and came to be known as the Stradivarius of the harmonika, because their
instruments were so well crafted.
His instruments found their way into the Schrammel brothers ensemble, and so
came to be known as the Schrammelharmonika, though the instruments
themselves were widely distributed, and became the basis for the Russian Bayan
system.
I played at a folk festival in Southern Austria several years ago and heard a
modernized Schrammel group playing. I thought I was hearing the early
Yankowitz accordion (1913 Klezmer on 78s) as the sound was identical.
Henceforth I was obsessed with getting such an instrument. It took 6 months of
search until I found a woman whose husband had died, and who had owned a
*Budowitzer.* After much finagling and slimy dealing (she raised the price every
time I called her) I borrowed a friends car, went to Perchtoldsdorf in lower
Austria and bought it from her, spent 6 more months renovating it, and finally
learning the rather impenetrable system. The difference in sound and feel from a
modern accordion is so great, that I wouldnt trade it for anything, in spite of
the fact that it is a very temperamental instrument. I call it my sweet old lady
for many reasons.
So there you have it.
Thanks again for the nice review. I havent heard or seen the CD yet, so I cant
say anything myself. Keep in touch. What magazine is it by the way, that you
edit? Josh Horowitz