Immigration, identity, and industry: Expanding U.S. accordion history through the careers of Santo Santucci and Nick Santucci

Dorion, Alina

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124203 Copy

Description

Title

Immigration, identity, and industry: Expanding U.S. accordion history through the careers of Santo Santucci and Nick Santucci

Author(s)

Dorion, Alina

Issue Date

2024-03-08

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Magee, Jeffrey

Committee Member(s)

Bashford, Christina

Department of Study

Music

Discipline

Music

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.Mus.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• accordion
• immigration
• identity
• industry
• vaudeville
• Chicago
• Santo Santucci
• Nick Santucci

Abstract

During the first half of the twentieth century, the accordion became one of the best-selling instruments in the United States. While various scholars have worked to broadly recount the accordion’s history and rise in popularity, there remain many figures, places, and moments that require further examination. This thesis focuses on two previously underexplored accordionists—Santo Santucci (1884–1958) and Nick Santucci (1908–1970)—whose work as performers, teachers, writers, and composers reflected the accordion’s development. Analyzing primary source materials such as reviews and advertisements from newspapers and theater industry magazines, articles and compositions from accordion publications, and more, this thesis presents a detailed investigation of the Santuccis’ careers in order to expand scholarship regarding the accordion’s presence and reception in vaudeville and in Chicago’s accordion industry of the 1930s–1950s. More specifically, this thesis examines how Italian immigrant identity was connected with the accordion on the vaudeville stage; changing perceptions of the accordion in vaudeville and how cultural emphasis on novelty, technological innovation, and ideas of identity spurred the piano accordion’s rise and later dominance in mainstream U.S. markets; and how the piano accordion was positioned at an intersection of social and musical influences during its peak years in the 1930s–1950s. In doing so, this thesis aims to more clearly document the Santuccis’ careers and to further consideration of some of the key issues of immigration, identity, and industry embedded within the accordion’s history.

Graduation Semester

2024-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2024 Alina Dorion

Owning Collections