Grock's accordion
The legendary clown played 15 instruments and wrote the music for his performances himself. Here are his most beautiful accordion pieces.
This wonderful booklet with works by the clown Grock (Charles Adrien Wettach), newly arranged for accordion solo and duo by Andreas Hermeyer and Thomas Svechla, also contains an exciting short biography of the famous artist, written by his great-nephew Raymond Naef. This part of the booklet is embellished with impressive photos and posters, which further emphasize the convincing vividness.
The text section also consists of an interesting essay by Thomas Eickhoff on Grock's relationship to the accordion and his work as a composer.
The "practical" part contains 14 inspiring and tonally very appealing compositions by Grock. Seven of these pieces have been supplemented with a 2nd voice and can therefore be enjoyed in duo formation, the second voice is inserted. The arrangements are harmonically very interesting and leave plenty of room for personal interpretation (no dynamic or articulation indications). I consider this booklet to be very successful (I am happy to overlook the one or other printing error) and recommend it to all those who like to immerse themselves in these dreamy, lively to exuberant melodies and are not afraid of technical challenges, especially for the left hand (standard bass).
Grock, Accordion works by the famous clown, edited by Thomas Eickhoff, MH 15122, € 18.99, Matthias-Hohner-Verlag (Schott), Mainz 2014
