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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 26-50 of 62 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BVE-59196 10-in. 3/3/1930 A malva rosa (Mallow) Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with guitar instrumentalist, accordion  
Victor BVE-59197 10-in. 3/3/1930 Angelica mazurka Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with guitar instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BVE-59198 10-in. 3/3/1930 'O silenzio Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with guitar instrumentalist, accordion  
Victor BVE-59199 10-in. 3/3/1930 Pensieri allegri (Valzer) Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with guitar instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BVE-63633 10-in. 9/9/1930 Come, my love Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with banjo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BVE-63634 10-in. 9/9/1930 Mazurka amabile Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with banjo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BVE-63635 10-in. 9/9/1930 Lettera 'e suldato medley Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with banjo instrumentalist, accordion, composer, arranger  
Victor BVE-63636 10-in. 9/9/1930 Florette Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with banjo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BS-78598 10-in. 11/28/1933 Loves smiles Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with piano instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BS-78599 10-in. 11/28/1933 Frosini's Symphonic march Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with piano instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BS-78812 10-in. 11/28/1933 Thoughts of love Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with piano instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Victor BS-78813 10-in. 11/28/1933 Mariposita Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with piano instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
OKeh S-7995 10-in. June 1921 Just because Harry Raderman's Jazz Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
OKeh 73782 10-in. 11/25/1925 Luna d'argento Sestetto Moderno Instrumental sextet composer  
Edison 3389 10-in. between 10/20/1914 and 10/29/1914 Panama Exposition overture Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Edison 3390 10-in. between 10/20/1914 and 10/29/1914 Italian fantasia Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Edison 3400 10-in. 10/31/1914 Thru the park march Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with orchestra instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Edison 3401 10-in. 10/31/1914 Echoes from the movies Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with orchestra instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Edison 4997 10-in. 9/15/1916 Sonata in C major Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion, composer  
Edison 4998 10-in. 9/15/1916 New York blues Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion, arranger  
Edison 5000 10-in. 9/16/1916 Stradella overture Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion  
Edison 5001 10-in. 9/16/1916 Carnival of Venice Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion  
Edison 6440 10-in. between 11/1/1918 and 11/4/1918 I hate to lose you medley Pietro Frosini Accordion solo instrumentalist, accordion, arranger  
Edison 6441 10-in. between 11/1/1918 and 11/4/1918 Pemberton Inn valse Pietro Frosini Accordion solo composer, instrumentalist, accordion  
Edison 7397 10-in. 6/10/1920 Curro cuchares march Pietro Frosini Accordion solo, with orchestra instrumentalist, accordion  
(Results 26-50 of 62 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Frosini, Pietro," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112281.

Frosini, Pietro. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112281.

"Frosini, Pietro." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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