A r t i sans h i p brought his craft to America, by purchasing Star Concertina, in Chicago. As he distributed his concertinas throughout the Midwest, my grandfather’s work soon became well known. Star also absorbed the Imperial brand of electronic accordions and organs/pianos. In 1986, he sold his company and retired. No other family member took up the trade, and the company eventually folded. My grandfather’s story is similar that of many Italian accordion manufacturers. As the industry began to boom in the late 1950s, many manufacturers appeared, only to shut down within an average of five years, due to increasing competition and shrinking demand. “The boom years were pre-Beatles,” said Fausto Fabo, the operations manager at Soprani/Scandalli in Castelfidardo, when I visited in the summer of 2010. “The accordion was not typical to rock and roll, and stayed outside of that musical circle for the most part.” Still, John Lennon used an accordion while composing most of his songs; only later, during recording, would he replace the melody with the guitar, drums and bass. Today, a branch of my family continues the Soprani line of accordions in Castelfidardo -- along with the Scandalli brand -- and maintains the artisan craft of accordion and orghenetti construction.
Fewer MADE By Hand In their factory on the outskirts of Castelfidardo, an average of 1,200 accordions are built each year, by a group of about 20 artisans. Each accordion has more than 15,000 parts, and an average of 14 pairs of hands help build each complex instrument. Each instrument takes about three months to build. Only two major Italian accordion companies— Pigini and Soprani/ Scandalli— are left here. Much of the mass production has been shifted to China, making it harder for the local producers to compete. A professional-grade accordion sells for more than $20,000 today. The intensive artisan construction and the multitude of vendors contributing to its creation have driven up costs. “More than a 100 different businesses go into the production of a single accordion,” Fabi explained. “ All [of these businesses] are locally based, and require specialists, thus making it more expensive.” In the past, the trade was passed down through the family, typically from grandfather to son to grandson. But in recent years, accordionmaking has lost its strong family connection, as younger generations chose to go into different fields, and machinery replaces human handwork. Yet the craft is still a staple of this Le Marche hill town region. And it will forever play a role in my family heritage. v
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Urbino View ‘10-’11