extremely popular for, classical pieces, with its fast action lending it nicely to
“party pieces” such as “The Flight of the Bumble Bee.” Nowadays there are
two main kinds of concertina: the English and the Anglo.
A typical English concertina has 48 buttons, with each button assigned the
same pitch no matter which direction the bellows are moved. The English
concertina is preferred for pieces with vocal accompaniment.
The anglo concertina comes mainly in 20-button and 30-button varieties, and
like the harmonica each button can produce two notes, depending on
whether the air is blowing or sucking. The 20-button anglo is more or less
confined to playing in two keys only, typically C and G. The 30-button model
adds incidentals, enabling the player to venture into other keys, such as D
and F. The anglo is popular in folk music, especially Irish traditional music.
Accordion and concertina ranges depend on both the size of the instrument,
the key it’s set in, and how many buttons are present. A full piano accordion,
such as a classical Wurlitzer, has a range of around six octaves.
Chapter 15: Composing for the Nonstandard Orchestra 195