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Pietro Frosini

Pietro Frosini (9 August 1885 – 2 September 1951) was one of the first famous "stars of the accordion." He was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1885 and began to play the chromatic button accordion at the age of six. In 1905 he emigrated to San Francisco and was discovered by a talent scout for the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit.

Frosini made one of the first accordion recordings on a cylinder record for Edison in 1907 and made his first Victor recording in 1908. He traveled extensively on the vaudeville circuit in America and abroad and even performed for the King of England.

On the vaudeville circuit, Frosini met and became friends with another great accordionist, Guido Deiro. After seeing the great success Deiro had with his audiences, Frosini adopted some of Deiro's methods: (1) he began playing popular music along with classical and operatic selections, and (2) he pasted a dummy piano accordion keyboard over his buttons, as audiences wanted to hear the more novel and unfamiliar piano accordion.

Frosini gave up vaudeville in 1932 when the "talkies" closed most vaudeville companies; he then became a staff accordionist for WOR radio in New York, a position he held until his death in 1951. Throughout his career, he performed, taught, composed and arranged music for the accordion. He wrote more than 200 original compositions for the instrument. Today there is a "Frosini Society" based in Sweden which was established in 1984 by Swedish accordionist Lars Ek.

Birth and Death Data: Born August 9, 1885 (Mascalucia), Died September 29, 1951 (Woodside)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1909 - 1934

Roles Represented in DAHR: accordion, composer, arranger, concertina

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 51-62 of 62 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Edison 7398 10-in. 6/10/1920 Valse caprice, no. 1 Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Edison 7404 10-in. 6/1/1920 The four jacks march Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion  
Edison 7405 10-in. 6/10/1920 Medley of old time tunes Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with orchestra instrumentalist, accordion  
Edison 8076 10-in. 6/17/1921 Just because Earl Fuller's New York Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Edison 12034 12-in. Apr. 1927 Italian fantasia John F. Burckhardt ; Pietro Frosini ; Imperial Marimba Band ; United States Marine Band ; Fred Van Eps ; Rudy Wiedoeft LP compilation : Instrumental instrumentalist, accordion  
Edison 12040 12-in. May 1927 A ragtime episode John F. Burckhardt ; Pietro Frosini ; Imperial Marimba Band ; United States Marine Band ; Fred Van Eps ; Rudy Wiedoeft LP compilation : Instrumental instrumentalist, accordion  
Decca 38709 10-in. 9/22/1934 Carnival of Venice Pietro Frosini instrumentalist, accordion  
Decca 38710 10-in. 9/22/1934 Valse chromatique Pietro Frosini instrumentalist, accordion  
Decca 38711 10-in. 9/22/1934 Accordionmania Pietro Frosini instrumentalist, accordion  
Decca 38712 10-in. 9/22/1934 Hot fingers Pietro Frosini instrumentalist, accordion  
Decca 38713 10-in. 9/22/1934 Cardinella Pietro Frosini instrumentalist, accordion  
Decca 38714 10-in. 9/22/1934 Bubbles Pietro Frosini instrumentalist, accordion  
(Results 51-62 of 62 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Frosini, Pietro," accessed November 1, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/112281.

Frosini, Pietro. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/112281.

"Frosini, Pietro." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 1 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/112281

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