Pietro Deiro
Encyclopedia
Pietro Deiro was one of the most influential accordion
ists of the first half of the 20th century.
Born in Salto Canavese, Italy, the younger brother of Guido Deiro
, he emigrated to the United States in 1907 to live with his Uncle Frederico and work in the coal mines of Cle Elum, Washington.
Pietro began playing Diatonic button accordion
professionally in a tavern in Seattle in 1908. Within a few short months, his brother Guido (already an accomplished piano-accordionist in Europe) arrived in Seattle, and taught his brother how to play the piano accordion
. Both brothers became minor celebrities on the vaudeville
circuit; Guido in 1910 and Pietro at least by 1912.
Pietro recorded dozens of records for the Victor Talking Machine Company
. After the demise of vaudeville during the Great Depression
, he opened a successful accordion studio in Greenwich Village
, New York City and established an accordion music publishing company: Accordion Music Publishing Company (AMPCO), later simply known as Pietro Deiro Publications.
He was the first president of the American Accordionists Association (1938) and promoted himself as "The Daddy of the Accordion," much to his brother Guido's chagrin. Pietro died in 1954.
and his wife, dancer/choreographer/director Micki Goodman presented one of their major artistic collaborations: Opera Fisarmonica, a realization of the life and works of Pietro Deiro in extended opera form.
It is a four act opera devised and performed by Schimmel and Goodman, who did all of the singing, playing, movement, sets and lighting. It utilized the works of Pietro Deiro in a highly dramatized manner along with Schimmel's own music and continuity combined with Goodman's highly physicalized direction of movement. It was performed at the Sofian Theatre in New York and received praise and endorsement from Pietro Deiro Jr. (who attended the opening night) as well as a highly favorable review in the New York Times by Bernard Holland
, which opened with the heading: "Accordionists' Patron Saint."
In 2002, Museo Internazionale della Fisarmonica (The International Accordion Museum) of Castelfidardo
, Italy, in collaboration with Music-tech, released a CD titled I Padri della Fisarmonica, vol. 1: Pietro Deiro, consisting of 23 original recordings by Pietro Deiro from 78 RPM records. In 2004, the Pietro Deiro Archives were donated to The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
by Pietro's granddaughter Sandra Cattani Deiro.
In 2005, American author and concert accordionist Henry Doktorski
wrote the first biography of Pietro and Guido Deiro: The Brothers Deiro and Their Accordions (The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.) and in 2006 Doktorski recorded on CD the first volume of The Complete Works of Pietro Deiro: Celebrated Polkas (The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.). In 2007, Bella Musica of Roma, Italy, released a 6-CD set: L'abilita artistica di Pietro Deiro (The Complete Recorded Works of Pietro Deiro from 78 RPM Records) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Pietro's arrival in the United States in 1907. (See external links below.)
On July 24, 25 and 26 2009, Dr. William Schimmel presented an audio/visual installation entitled 'Radiant Pietro', which consisted on an ambient soundtrack containing fragments of Pietro Deiro's entire musical output. Spectators were encouraged to page through a large, heavy book containing philosophical musings as well as slogans and pictures, the latter being vaudeville cutouts in black and white as well as color - showing Pietro Deiro in various degrees of headlessness - or disembodied - or simply a displaced head in other parts of the body and accordion. The mystical aspect of it is a sense of Radiance that comes through saintly martyrdom or simply allowing the music to enter the world forever through an "uncorking" process. As a result, we have Radiant Pietro - whose music will radiate through the aethers and the world forever. This installation was part of The American Accordionists' Association Master Class and Concert Series, The Seminars - The 2009 title being 'Welcome Home Skinny' - an anagram for 'Pietro's Return'.
Dr. Schimmel is the moderator/curator for the series which just completed its fifteenth year.
On July 30, 31 and August 1 2010, Dr. William Schimmel supplied the score for an audio/visual installation by Cristine Speligene entitled Vesperae which consisted of rows of empty coffee cans with visual projections showing family and its relationship to coffee and caffeine. The score, although it contains some original music by Schimmel (At Least I Dropped Sorrow) and a quote from Charles Magnante (Accordiana), is largely devised from three Pietro Deiro compositions: Mancito (paso doble), El Cabrito (paso doble) and Arnilla (bolero). A simple cassette tape was placed into one the coffee cans producing a "tinny" yet "resonant" effect. This installation was part of The American Accordionists' Association Master Class and Concert Series, The Seminars - The 2010 title being 'Don't Like Opera'.
Dr. Schimmel is the moderator/curator for the series which just completed its sixteenth year.
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ists of the first half of the 20th century.
Born in Salto Canavese, Italy, the younger brother of Guido Deiro
Guido Deiro
Count Guido Pietro Deiro was a famous vaudeville star, international recording artist, composer and teacher. He was the first piano-accordionist to appear on big-time vaudeville, records, radio and the screen. Guido usually performed under the stage-name "Deiro"...
, he emigrated to the United States in 1907 to live with his Uncle Frederico and work in the coal mines of Cle Elum, Washington.
Pietro began playing Diatonic button accordion
Diatonic button accordion
A diatonic button accordion or melodeon is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys...
professionally in a tavern in Seattle in 1908. Within a few short months, his brother Guido (already an accomplished piano-accordionist in Europe) arrived in Seattle, and taught his brother how to play the piano accordion
Piano accordion
A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more similar to that of an organ than a piano, as they are both wind instruments, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro in 1910—has remained the popular...
. Both brothers became minor celebrities on the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit; Guido in 1910 and Pietro at least by 1912.
Pietro recorded dozens of records for the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
. After the demise of vaudeville during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he opened a successful accordion studio in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, New York City and established an accordion music publishing company: Accordion Music Publishing Company (AMPCO), later simply known as Pietro Deiro Publications.
He was the first president of the American Accordionists Association (1938) and promoted himself as "The Daddy of the Accordion," much to his brother Guido's chagrin. Pietro died in 1954.
Recent commemorations
There has been a recent resurge of interest in the music of Pietro Deiro. In 1991 and 1992, composer/accordionist William SchimmelWilliam Schimmel
William Schimmel is one of the principal architects in the resurgence of the accordion, and the philosophy of "Musical Reality"...
and his wife, dancer/choreographer/director Micki Goodman presented one of their major artistic collaborations: Opera Fisarmonica, a realization of the life and works of Pietro Deiro in extended opera form.
It is a four act opera devised and performed by Schimmel and Goodman, who did all of the singing, playing, movement, sets and lighting. It utilized the works of Pietro Deiro in a highly dramatized manner along with Schimmel's own music and continuity combined with Goodman's highly physicalized direction of movement. It was performed at the Sofian Theatre in New York and received praise and endorsement from Pietro Deiro Jr. (who attended the opening night) as well as a highly favorable review in the New York Times by Bernard Holland
Bernard Holland
Bernard Holland is an internationally recognized American music critic. He served on the staff of The New York Times from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper....
, which opened with the heading: "Accordionists' Patron Saint."
In 2002, Museo Internazionale della Fisarmonica (The International Accordion Museum) of Castelfidardo
Castelfidardo
Castelfidardo is a town and comune in the province of Ancona, in the Marche region of central-eastern Italy.It is particularly remembered for the Italian victory over a "volunteer" army defending the Papal States, on September 18, 1860...
, Italy, in collaboration with Music-tech, released a CD titled I Padri della Fisarmonica, vol. 1: Pietro Deiro, consisting of 23 original recordings by Pietro Deiro from 78 RPM records. In 2004, the Pietro Deiro Archives were donated to The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
by Pietro's granddaughter Sandra Cattani Deiro.
In 2005, American author and concert accordionist Henry Doktorski
Henry Doktorski
Henry Doktorski III is one of America's premier concert accordionists. He has performed on accordion with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, violinists Gil Shaham and Itzhak Perlman during concerts and recording sessions with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under conductors Lorin Maazel, John...
wrote the first biography of Pietro and Guido Deiro: The Brothers Deiro and Their Accordions (The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.) and in 2006 Doktorski recorded on CD the first volume of The Complete Works of Pietro Deiro: Celebrated Polkas (The Classical Free-Reed, Inc.). In 2007, Bella Musica of Roma, Italy, released a 6-CD set: L'abilita artistica di Pietro Deiro (The Complete Recorded Works of Pietro Deiro from 78 RPM Records) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Pietro's arrival in the United States in 1907. (See external links below.)
On July 24, 25 and 26 2009, Dr. William Schimmel presented an audio/visual installation entitled 'Radiant Pietro', which consisted on an ambient soundtrack containing fragments of Pietro Deiro's entire musical output. Spectators were encouraged to page through a large, heavy book containing philosophical musings as well as slogans and pictures, the latter being vaudeville cutouts in black and white as well as color - showing Pietro Deiro in various degrees of headlessness - or disembodied - or simply a displaced head in other parts of the body and accordion. The mystical aspect of it is a sense of Radiance that comes through saintly martyrdom or simply allowing the music to enter the world forever through an "uncorking" process. As a result, we have Radiant Pietro - whose music will radiate through the aethers and the world forever. This installation was part of The American Accordionists' Association Master Class and Concert Series, The Seminars - The 2009 title being 'Welcome Home Skinny' - an anagram for 'Pietro's Return'.
Dr. Schimmel is the moderator/curator for the series which just completed its fifteenth year.
On July 30, 31 and August 1 2010, Dr. William Schimmel supplied the score for an audio/visual installation by Cristine Speligene entitled Vesperae which consisted of rows of empty coffee cans with visual projections showing family and its relationship to coffee and caffeine. The score, although it contains some original music by Schimmel (At Least I Dropped Sorrow) and a quote from Charles Magnante (Accordiana), is largely devised from three Pietro Deiro compositions: Mancito (paso doble), El Cabrito (paso doble) and Arnilla (bolero). A simple cassette tape was placed into one the coffee cans producing a "tinny" yet "resonant" effect. This installation was part of The American Accordionists' Association Master Class and Concert Series, The Seminars - The 2010 title being 'Don't Like Opera'.
Dr. Schimmel is the moderator/curator for the series which just completed its sixteenth year.
External links
- "Celebrated Polkas by Pietro Deiro" CD
- "The Brothers Deiro and Their Accordions"
- "The Complete Recorded Works of Pietro Deiro" 6-CD set
- Museo internazionale della fisarmonica
- Discography of Pietro Deiro on Victor RecordsVictor Talking Machine CompanyThe Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR) - audio recording of Melody Rag at the Library of Congress jukebox