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THE FREE-REED JOURNALVol. [V, 2002 , pp. 70-84
GIULIO REGONDITWO NEWLY DISCOVERED LETTERS
AlIan W. AtlasAlthough Giulio Regondi (?1 822- 1872), the
foremost concertina (the "English" concertina) virtuoso and Dne
afthe great guitarists of1he nineteenth century, has received hi s
duc in the literature on both ofthose instrumcnts, there ismuch
about his life and career that remains obscure.' Thus any new
sources ofinformation about him are significant and deserve our
attention. What 1'01-lows, then, reports on two previously
unnoticed letters, one of which can beplaeed in ils proper context
with a high degree ofeonfidence , while the otherleaves us with a
number of unresolved questions.11berc is no comprchensive biogmphy
ofRegondi. 'lltc best starting point is the three-part sketchby
Douglas Rogcrs, "G iutio Regondi : Guitarisl, Conccrtinisl Uf
Mclophonist'l A R c c o n a i s ~sanee," Cuitar Review 9 1(Fal l
1992): 92 (Wintcr 1993): 14-21; 97 (Spring 1994): 11-1 7; thismus!
be suppJcmented by Tom Lawrencc, "G iuJio Regondi and the
Concertina in lre land," Concertina World: Internatiollal
Concertilla Association Newsleuer 411 (luly 1998): 21-25,
whichpresents ncw documcntation for whal is now the carliest knowll
malerial on Regondi as aconccrtini st; see also, Allan W. Atlas,
Tlie Wh eatstone English Concertina in Victorian ElIg/and(Oxford :
Clarendon Press, 1996), 48-54; ALIas, "Collins, Count Fosco, and
the Concertina,"W{kie CollitJS Sociely Journa/ 2 (2000): 56-60;
Stewart Button, Tlle Cuitar ill Ellg/and,1800-1924 (New York:
Garland, 1989), 100-13, 126-33. For a dcta ilcd look at Rcgondi's
tour ofthe Contillent in 1840-184 1, sec Hclmul C. Jacobs,
Derjllnge Gu itarrell- ulld ConcertinavirllloseGiu/io Regondi: Eine
k.ritisclle DokumellJa liOl seiller Konzertreise durc;}, Europa,
1840 uM 1841(Bochwn: Augcmus, 2001). ' ' ' ' lO other tems, bolh
guitar-cenlric, are Philip J. Bone, Tlle GuitarQJJd MmuJolill:
Biograpllies 01 Celebrated Players alJd Composers, 200 cd. (London:
SchOIt,1954), 29 1-96, and Simon Wynbcrg, Giulio RegmuJi: The
Complete Worksfor Guitar (Monaco:d itions Chanterelle, 198 1),
7-10, both ofwhich, however, have their share of errors. There is
abriefentry on Regondi by lllOmas J-Jeck, "Regondi, Giulio," in
rIle New Grove Diclionary ofMu-sic atu/ Musicians, rev. ed. , 00,
Stanley Sadie and 10hn Tyrrcll (London: Macmillan, 200 1), xxi,122
(hereafter New Grovel2, and avalable on Jine at <
http://www.grovcmusic.com >.
Although there is a eritical editio nofRegondi 's works for
guitar(see above), there is nocountcrpart for his composit io ns
for concertina. Needlcss to say, it would be most helpful to
havesuch an edilion, one that considcrs and comes to terms with thc
errors and inconsislencics thatmar th e original nineteenth-cemury
publications, sorne ofwhieh fa l even to set the concertinaand
piano parts in seore format (instcad they orrer separate pans
only). Moreover,ofRcgondi' stwo concertos, thal in D majar was
published only in part (second and third movements), andwith piano
accompaniment onl y (Wheatstone, 1855), while the other, in E-flat
major, was notpublished at all (see note 28 below). The edtions
ofRegondi 's Serenade and Leisure Moments,Nos. 1-6, in the
Concertina Connection s Musiclor lhe English Concertilla series
simply reproduces the or iginal nineteenth-century publieation; see
rny review in FRJ 1 ( 1999): 81-86.
70
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80 FREE-REED lOURNAL, Vol. IVolher motive for doing so: his view
Ihat Ihe concertina had a place in music 'swider role as a
"civilizing" force. As he put it in My Musical Life:
Let the heav en-bom art ofmusic spread; let it bless the hornes
and hearthsaftbe peo ple; let the children sing, and sing together;
lel {he concertina[my tales], tite violin, oc the tlutc be found in
cvery cottage. _ thus Jet thefactory girl forget her toil and Lhe
artisan his grievan ce, and Music, theCiv iliser, tbe Rec reator,
the Soothcrand Purifier afthe emoticn s, shall be-come dte mu sic
oflbe future for England (p . 161).It was, arter all, to raise Ihe
moral eharaeter ofhis Bethnal Green parishio
ners Ihat Haweis inaugurated Ihe concert series in the frrst
place.To retum to Regondi's careee: Rcgondi, as did so man y ather
music ians,supplemented his ineome from coneerts by teaching , and
just how far from
London he somet im es wen! in this respeet beeomes clear from
Lener 2.Lctter 2. Rccipient unknown [Rcnry or William Sudlow?1
ILiverpool'!J, 2 DeccRlber [1847?1 (scc }"ig. 2)"Oear Sir:
I quite forgol last night Ihat besides my evening lesso n I had
aparty to attend at in [sic!] Birkcnhcad which precludes the
possibility of my aecompany ing you to Me James Rhoden's lonight.
Enelosed is anote lo him whichyou will ob lige me by handing lo
him.
Oecember2 -4 Alfred Slreet
Believe meOear SirYour 's most trulyGiulio R.egondi
Innocent Ihough the lener is in its thoroughly soc ial content,
il leaves uswith a number of unanswered questions.nThe lettcr is
preservcd at the Pierpont Mo rgan Library, New York, Mary
FlaglerCary MusieCo llection , MFC R34 3.S943 (Sennett) . lt is
wriuen on fo ls. Ir and Iv ofa single bifolio (fols.
2 r ~ 2 v are blank) and measures 17.3 x 11.5 cm. Laoking al the
letterlhrough fol. 2v, one sees lhed o w n remnants ofa watermark
atthe topofthe page :"JWb" (the tbree leners me asu re 6.5
cm across, while lhe m'o capitaJ letters stand 2 cm tall); this
refers lo the p a p e r ~ m finn ofJ.Whabnan, who se paper \Vas
ubiquitous tbroughout England (and forged on the Continent); ye lwi
thoul more ofthe watermark being visible--nam ely, the date, which
ofien appeared below thename--it offers little help in pinning down
the provenanee afthe letter (see OO low).The letter is cited
withaut further comm ent in 1. Rigbie Turner, "' Infinite Riches in
a LittleRoom': The Music Co lleetions in the Pierpont Margan
Library,"No tes 55 /3 (1999), 576. Iamgrateful to M.r. Turner, who,
upon publieation of rus artiele, immediately supp lied me with
axerox reproduction of the lette r.
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84 FREE-REED JOURNAL, Vol. IV
"Rowden"-is fairly eommon throughoul Ihe Laneashire distriel.30
lndeed, aseareh Ihrough Ihe on-line lnteroalional Geneologieal
Index for Ihe period1830-1870 turoed up a slew of people so named.
And while no one who cou ldbe even a remole possibility used Ihe
spelling "Rhoden," \Ve mighl nole Ihal aJames Roden was married (lo
one Maria Smilh) on 10 AugusI 1851 in IheChureh of SI. Nieholas,
Chapel Street, Liverpool,31 Ihal is, Ihe very ehureh inwhieh
William Sudlow was Ihen organist. Could Ihis be our Mr.
"Rhoden"?Did Regondi misspe ll Ihe name? Did Ihe James
R(h)oden-William Sudloweonneelion extend lo Ihe social sphere? And
was il in Iha! eirele Ihat Regondiwas circulating? For OOW, the
qucstions remain unan swered, 32
Rcgondi's Career (2): As Regondi himselfpoinls out in Ihe
letler, he wasobliged to give a lesson (either on Ihe concertinaor
Ihe guitar) on Ihe eveningofDeeember2nd. And while itiswell known
lhatRegondi had a steady s!reamofstudents on both instruments in
London, it is, perhaps, surprising lo find himgiving lessons in Ihe
Liverpool area, for he could only have done so on a temporary
basis. Thus we might liken his silualion lo thal of many
presenl-dayperformers who, when their touring schedule permits a
short respite in one 10-cation, sometirncs settle in as
"artists/teachers- in-res id ence" for a while. Infael, perhaps il
was Ihe opportunily to earo money giving a highly
eoneentratedseries of lessons Ihal eaused Regondi lo linger in Ih e
arca as long as he did.In tlle end, the web
ofeireumslanees-cireular though it may be-points loRegondi having
writlen the letler al Liverpool, most likely in 1847, and possibly
lo one or anolher oflhe brolhers Henry and William Sudlow.
To eonelude: the two letlers shed al leasl a liltle new lighl on
GiulioRegondi 's eareer. He was obviously heId in high esleem by no
less a figureIhan tlle soon-to-bc-famous (beginning in Ihe 1870s)
Hugh Reginald Haweis,wha, though certainly not one afthe
"makc-or-break"crities of late-Victorianmusicallifc, nevertheless
staod clase to its centcr and exerted at least sorne inf1uenee on
it. As for the Liverpoolletter(and I shall assume Iha! thal is its
provenance): this briefnote shows that Regondi 's activity as a
teacher was not, asmighl have been expeeted, limited lo London and
its environs ; and we can onlywonder just how geographieally
far-f1ung bis eirele of sludents was.30Cornmunication of 5 luly 200
I from Pror. Michacl Talbot, who adds that the name is alsofound
frcquently in Cheshire.31 . Core sDirectOly 01 Liverpooleditioo of
1851, 478, lists aRichard Rhoden (bootand shoem ake r) and a
William Rhoden ("vict ualler") as residing in Birkenhead (they
continue lo be listed in the edit ions of 1853 and 1857).Again, my
thanks 10 Prof. Talbot.321might note mal there is no James Rhodcn
(oc Roden oc Rowden) amoog mase listed in theWheatstone & Co.
sales ledgers around the time in which we are interested. The
ledgers are CUf-rently preserved in Lhe Wayne Co llectioD, The
Homiman Mu se um, Landon ;1aro gratefu l to Dr.Margaret Birley and
her stafffor scarching the Icdgers for me prior to my having
obtained cop iesof rny own. Ofcourse it is possible that the
Regondi-Rhoden (Roden) associat ion centered aboutthe guitar, orhad
nothng to do with music at a1l.
