Galla-Rini, Anthony
Galla-Rini, Anthony
Galla-Rini, Anthony, American accordionist, composer, and arranger; b. Manchester, Conn., Jan. 18, 1904. He began his musical training with his father, a bandmaster, and from the age of 6 played the accordion and other instruments on tours of the U.S. and Canada. He studied harmony with John Van Broekhaven in N.Y. (1918) and theory and conducting with Gaston Usigli at the San Francisco Cons. (1933). As a champion of the accordion as a classical instrument, he was the first to give accordion recitals in the major music centers. He was also the first accordionist to appear as a soloist with a sym. orch. when he gave the premiere of his own 1st Accordion Concerto in Oklahoma City on Nov. 15, 1941. He made many technical improvements for his instrument. Among his books were a Method for Accordion (1931), an Accordion Course (1955–56), the Galla-Rini Accordion Primer (1958), and A Collection of Lectures (1981). He composed 2 accordion concertos (1941,1976), an Accordion Sonata (1981), and solo accordion pieces; he also prepared numerous transcriptions for the accordion.
Bibliography
O. Hahn, A. G.-R. (Stockholm, 1986).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire