Pietro Deiro
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Pietro Deiro (1888 – 1954) was one of the most influential accordionists of the first half of the 20th century. [1]
Born in Salto Canavese, Italy, the younger brother of Guido Deiro, he immigrated 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 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 passed away in 1954. [2]
[edit] Recent Commemorations
There has been a recent resurge of interest in the music of Pietro Deiro. 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.)
[edit] References
- ^ Ronald Flynn, Edwin Davison, Edward Chavez, "The Golden Age of the Accordion," 3rd edition (Flynn Publications, Schertz, Texas: 1992)
- ^ Henry Doktorski, "The Brothers Deiro and Their Accordions" (The Classical Free-Reed, Inc., Oakdale, Pennsylvania: 2005)
