10/08/2026
The Power of Music and the Accordion……Story #3 10/8/26
Story #3… Whose Accordion is This?
Of all my encounters with people over the years in our accordion museum, I think this following story best demonstrates the power of music and the accordion.
A gentleman named Peter called me and asked if he could visit our museum with his wife, Elsa. She used to play the accordion, but with the onset of her Alzheimer’s disease she had stopped playing. Peter was desperate to do something that could possibly help stem the progression of the disease. She used to play the accordion quite a bit, especially as a young girl growing up in Lithuania. He was hoping that a visit to our museum, where she would be surrounded by accordions, might do her some good.
Elsa was born in 1930 and when she was thirteen years of age, she began playing the accordion and taking lessons. When she arrived at our museum, she acted as if she had never before seen an accordion. She was quietly interested in the instruments that we had on display, but nothing triggered her memory of the past.
Unbeknownst to Elsa, Peter had brought her old Hohner accordion along with them for the visit. With her husband standing behind her, I sat directly in front of Elsa and set up some of her old sheet music that she used to play. I then took her accordion out of its case and placed it in her lap. She acted as if she had never seen it before and asked me, “Whose accordion is this?” For the next 30 minutes or so, she must have asked me that question at least 10 times. And we kept insisting that it was her accordion.
At first, she didn’t seem to understand and would not try to play the accordion. I gently helped her place her fingers on the treble keyboard side. I then showed her how to press the keys down ever so slightly as I worked the bellows from the other side, and that produced the sound. It was amazing to see the transformation. The sound of that Hohner represented the sound of all her childhood memories.
As soon as she heard it, she acted as if a switch had been flipped to the “on” position inside of her. Both Peter and I were amazed. She started to play more notes on her own and then stopped and remembered back to when she was 13 years old. The transformation was instantaneous and simply beyond amazing.
We just sat there stunned while Elsa clearly and precisely told us the smallest details of her normal day when she was a young teen back in 1943 during the years of the N**i occupation. She looked directly at Peter and I as she told us how her father made a large basket that fit onto her bicycle for carrying the accordion. He would caution her every day to go quickly and directly to school and not to stop anywhere. People were fearful of being detained by the N**i soldiers for no apparent reason.
A number of times she would stop talking and play a little bit more of a song and then continued to talk. After a while the “spell” she was in seemed to lift and the Elsa of her childhood reverted back to the Elsa of today. And yes, when it was all over, she turned to me and asked once again, ‘Whose accordion is this?”
When they were leaving, Peter’s comments to me were very touching. He said, “Thank you for doing this, Paul. For a short while today, you helped give me back my Elsa. I had forgotten how sweet and beautiful she was.”
That encounter had a tremendous impact on me. I witnessed how possible it is to lose a loved one, while they still remain alive and awake with us every day. While today there might be medications that could help people like Elsa, I could not deny the power of the music she played together with the feeling of having the accordion once again functioning on her lap. What’s also very interesting is that Elsa’s recollection was that one event where her father provided a way to care for her most precious possession, the accordion. She also recalled how his love for her came in the form of a daily warning about N**i soldiers. In both references we see the power of love for a daughter and her music.
When I hear these kinds of stories from folks who visit us, I feel as though I journey back in time and experience a little of how difficult it was for people who lived then. I cannot help but feel great compassion for them and the sacrifices they made for their country and loved ones. And I know I will continue to marvel at the power of music and the accordion.
Paul Ramunni
860-833-1374
[email protected]
New England Accordion Connection & Museum Co.
75 Main Street, PO Box 943
North Canaan, CT ….06018
NEACMC.com..We curate, buy, sell and repair accordions!!
Our next Gathering for "Groovin' at the depot is Sunday 10/18/26
3 PM-5PM