How did it happen that such a ‘stereotypically Slavic’ music instrument like an accordion, became associated with the Egyptian folklore? Let’s first dig deeper into the history of the accordion itself, and its ‘Slavic’ origins.

According to Wikipedia, an instrument called accordion was first patented in 1829 by Cyrill Demian, of Armenian origin, in Vienna.But according to other sources, the first version of the accordion made its appearance in 1822, created by a German instrument maker named Christian Friedrich Buschmann. The earliest history of the accordion in Russia is poorly documented. Nevertheless, according to Russian researchers, the earliest known simple accordions were made in Tula, Russia, by Ivan Sizov and Timofey Vorontsov around 1830, after they received an early accordion from Germany. So not sure, how much we can call accordion to be of Slavic origins.

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Now, don’t forget that in 19th century there were already very strong trade relationships between Europe and the Middle East. No wonder that accordion quickly appeared in different countries. Also, how many time we encounter cases that things are originated in one country, but become deeply engraved in other cultures too? Simply think about coffee, tulips or potatoes…

And finally, don’t do a mistake of thinking that an Egyptian accordion is just the same as a Western one. If you get a Serbian accordionist, doesn’t matter how skilled he is, he won’t be able to play the baladi song in Egyptian style! His instrument won’t let him!

Western and Egyptian accordions have different inside structure because of significant differences in scales. In Arabic music you need to reach not only half or quarter tones, but also 1/8 of the note, 1/16, and so on, and in-between… It’s very different from the Western style of music and Western scales. Many musicians either change the inside structure of strings, or purchase accordions already made in Egyptian style.

So although both instruments look the same, and are called the same name, we can’t say that those are two identical accordions.⁣⁣

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Author and model: Iana Komarnytska

Photographer: Pedro Bonatto