Emile Charlier, Accordion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emile Charlier (Master Accordionist)

Our on-going attempts to trace the surviving members of Mantovani's Orchestra are continuing pace, but there can be no bigger "catch" than that of Emile Charlier, Mantovani's master accordionist, who was with the maestro from late 1953/early 1954 until 1975. Emile resides in Devon in the south of England and shortly will be celebrating his 81st birthday on 26th January 2002.     Recently I had the pleasure of chatting with Emile whose memory of things Mantovani is very sharp indeed.     Known professionally as Emilio, Emile is of Belgian origin, his father being a Walloon (i.e. from the French speaking part of bi-lingual Belgium; the other part speaks Flemish/Dutch). His father came from the eastern part of Belgium, from the pleasant city of Liege, and he settled in the UK in 1919. With a pupil of his and a cousin they formed a musical act, and Emile's step-sister Daisy was also involved at one time. Emile was born in London and at school he took up music. His father played accordion by ear as he could not read music. Emile learnt on the piano at first but soon graduated to the accordion. He became a sort of professional musician at the age of 12 in his father's act and toured all over the UK, doing sometimes a couple of shows a night. He was, however, governed by rules which ensured that he attended school in the places he was playing. Emile was naturally quite an attraction being so young.     Emile (Emilio) played in Les Apaches and a larger band, the Ziganos, which favoured Hungarian type music. When he was 15 he was playing in restaurants in the south of England. During the 2nd world war he saw service with the RAF and played in a five piece band. After the war he found that the little pre-war theatres that had been his bread and butter were beginning to close down, but he managed to continue in his orchestral and radio career. He was a restaurant player when contacted by Mantovani's orchestral "fixer"  (orchestra manager), Wally Ashworth. He recalls that his first concert with Mantovani was at the De Montfort Hall at Leicester in the English Midlands.     Emile's predecessors with Mantovani were Henry Krein (who played a specially tuned Galanti Swallow accordion on the original hit version of The Theme From Moulin Rouge in 1953) and Reg Hogarth. Indeed, there are photos of the orchestra in which both of these gentlemen are shown. But Emile was invariably a solo accordionist with Monty and was a wonderful asset to the orchestra. He had a very light touch, but added so much extra to the overall presentation. It is truly remarkable how often he appears on a Mantovani recording. Monty once said to him that he had such a feel for the music that he would have made a wonderful oboe player.     Emile used an Italian Settimio Soprani accordion and also a Crosio accordion (this was a French instrument made in Italy). It has been written in the past (notably by Joseph Lanza among several mistakes in his piece on Mantovani in his book "Elevator Music") that Monty loathed the accordion, but this has at last been debunked by the man who should know, Emile Charlier. It was just not the case at all.       Like the other key Mantovani players Emile was a freelance musician and he played with the sometime leader of the Mantovani Orchestra, Sydney Bowman, on radio and recordings. If he was booked for a session somewhere and a call came from the Mantovani set-up then Emile would always get a replacement and would go with Monty; he says that he really enjoyed participating in the music. I asked him if he had ever missed a session and he told me that there only one occasion that he could recall (c1958/59). A late night return to his car brought the discovery of a unauthorised man sitting in the front seat; a trip to the police station followed, charges were made and Emile only managed to extricate himself at an unearthly hour; an added complication was that he would have to appear in court the following morning.

Emile had to ring Wally Ashworth and fetch him from his bed to tell him that he would not be able to play that day at the Mantovani session at the Elstree film studios.     Emile toured the States six times with Monty and played on all the recordings except those made in Paris after 1971 (Emile played on just one of these albums). His recollection of the various musicians involved includes violinist Louis Voss (the father of singer Stephanie Voss) who was called "The Raven" on account of his dark hair, his good friend trombonist Maurice Gee and also his fellow bridge player, Lionel Solomons (flute).     I hope that in time we will hear more from Emile on his Mantovani days, but there are two further matters worth repeating at the present time. Firstly, Emile assured me that he had never had an angry word with Monty in all the years he knew him. The other is a personal one; it was the sound of Emile's flowing accordion on the recording of "Under Paris Skies" (1958) that got this particular writer first interested in the Mantovani Sound. I, therefore, have much to thank this wonderful accordionist for. Emile told me, in fact, that he had read one review of the recording which mentioned the accordions which could be heard on this tune But there was only one accordion, and it was played by Emile. Such was the skill of the man, a true master of his instrument. Mr Emile Charlier has added a bit more to his life story. Maybe you could print it as an addition?    Emile Charlier has recalled some more details of his career in music which, although not directly involving his time with Mantovani, will be of interest. His first orchestral job was with Bobby Brown's Orchestra in Bournemouth in the South of England in 1936. A couple of years later he joined the well-known band, Troise and his Mandoliers, before RAF wartime service took him away from the professional music scene. He remembers, too, lots of solo accordion work with the BBC's West regional and National networks and a happy association with comedian Harry Korris on the popular "Happidrome" programme in the 1940s. Emile also often used to open up the well-known BBC radio show "Workers' Playtime" which ran for many years.  After Mantovani retired in 1975 Emile continued with session work, but eventually sold up in South London to move to Devon where he could concentrate on fishing. He played accordion at the Imperial Hotel, Torquay, for several years at their French evenings and also played at a hotel on the seafront for four years. His last professional engagement came at the age of 75 in Devon. Recently he has been able to listen again to many of the recordings he made with Mantovani, and says that these, together with the renewed interest in his career, have given him "a shot in the arm". Colin MacKenzie (with grateful thanks to Alan Dixon and, of course, Emile Charlier).  (Thank you very much Colin and Alan) It would be interesting to know what prompted Mantovani's fixer Wally Ashworth to contact Emile in the first place. Did Mantovani hear Emile at one time, or was it a suggestion from a trusted Mantovani source? I agree with the opinion expressed about Mr. Charlier's performance on "Under Paris Skies", frankly his performance is magical and amazing for lack of better words to describe it.  [Webmaster Note: When the page loaded you hear Emile Charlier's beautiful solo at the beginning of Mantovani's "My Old Dutch".  I hope you enjoyed it.]

Master Accordionist Emile Charlier at 85 Years. From Scott Raeburn: "This recent photo of Emile Charlier, Mantovani's long-serving Accordionist (1954 - 1975) was taken in June 2006. Emile recently spent Christmas with his family in Torquay, Devon (UK) (where he now lives). A very special occasion was highlighted by Emile receiving a CD-R of six solo recordings he made as a youth in 1936 and 1938 for the Columbia and Rex labels. Even in those days "Emilio" (as he was then known) was an accomplished virtuoso - at 15! - having been tutored by his father, also named Emile Charlier, from the age of 11. Charlier senior even wrote one of the pieces, "La Capricieuse." The recordings were "rescued" from King's College Library in London by Mantovani Enthusiast (and Mantovani Biographer) Colin MacKenzie and Alan Dixon who are most grateful for the co-operation they received. Emile's solos - which he had not heard for a very long time - were: Czardas; La Capricieuse; Manhattan Serenade; Dark Eyes; Meanderings; and, a tango medley consisting of: Softly As In a Morning Sunrise; La Rosita; At The Balalaika. They were  recorded in London. Scott Raeburn, (February, 2007) To hear Emile Charlier's opening solo in the haunting, "My Old Dutch" click here: . Of course there are many solos in Mantovani recordings from this master of a very difficult musical instrument to play. In this recording Mr. Charlier is playing a Fratelli Crosio piano accordion made in Italy.