Harman Patil (Editor)

Livenka (music)

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The livenka (Russian: ливенка) or Livenskaya garmoshka (Russian: Ливенская гармошка) is a specific variety of accordion used in Russian folk music, specifically in the region around the town of Livny (Oryol Oblast), from which the instrument takes its name.

Contents

Description

  • The livenka is a unisonoric instrument, meaning that each button produces the same tone, regardless of the direction of the bellows.
  • The right-hand buttons (of which there may be 12 to 15) play the notes of the obikhodnyy pitch set, which may also be thought of as a series of overlapping Mixolydian modes. (Banin, A.A. 1997. p.161)
  • The left-hand levers play intervals of thirds or fourths, so that adjacent levers operated simultaneously will play a triad.
  • The livenka has a very long bellows, when compared to other accordions—sometimes having forty folds, and extending to over a meter in length.

    • History

    The name of the inventor of the livenka was not preserved. It is believed to have been developed in the second half of the 19th century as a modification of existing German or Russian button accordions.

    References

    Livenka (music) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA