Ernst Kusserow on his birthday

(from Der Volksmusiker, May 1965, page 20)

On May 26, 1965, a man completed his 68th year of laying, who unfortunately never achieved the broad popularity that should have come to him due to his lifelong efforts for the cultivation of the bandonion and especially for the redesign of the bandonion itself: Ernst Kusserow.

Born in Berlin, he initially worked in bandonion construction himself; with Julius ZADEMACK, the creator of the unisonoric Zademack bandonion, with whom Fritz MICKLITZ was a journeyman at the time and later built the Micklitz bandonion on Zademack's foundations.

Based on the carefully collected experience of his professional musicianship after military service and captivity as a prisoner of war, Ernst Kusserow, together with Richard Micklitz, the son of Fritz Micklitz, designed and built the original forms of today's Kusserow Bandonion, which was then given its final keyboard form at the end of 1926.

To this day, this unisonoric Kusserow bandonion has remained the only mass-produced unisonoric bandonion whose tone assignment met the requirements of the bandonion in terms of handcuffing and thus real playability. In terms of musical value, it is far superior to the chromatic respectively unisonoric accordion due to the bass side dissolved into single notes (the hallmark of the Konzertina and the bandonion). However, in contrast to the accordion, the Kusserow bandonion also requires a pronounced study of the left hand, as is quite natural with the piano. Nor can music theory go unnoticed. The Kusserow bandonion is a full instrument within its range, which is not played according to a number system, but purely according to notes.

From his youth, Ernst Kusserow has worked to a great extent on himself and with regard to his practical and theoretical music education. For a long time he was a teacher of bellows instruments at the Stern Conservatory, later the Berlin Municipal Conservatory. After repeated military service (1939/41 and 1944/45), he rebuilt the folk music department at the Conservatory of the City of Berlin. From 1950 to 1956 he was a lecturer at the German Academy of Music in Berlin.

In between, Ernst Kusserow was also active for many years in the music committee of the Deutscher Konzertina- und Bandonion Bund (DK u. BB). Through articles in specialist journals, Ernst Kusserow has always been a straightforward advocate of the bandonion and has given many useful suggestions for the cultivated bandonion game for individual players and clubs. He has also been particularly committed to the publication of impeccable and instructive bandonion music.

He also worked extensively as a bandonionist in German bands and Argentine tango orchestras, as a soloist in radio and film. For example, Ernst Kusserow was Walter Pörschmann's partner in the UFA sound film "The Island", in which Günther Lüders made his screen debut.

Unfortunately, Ernst Kusserow celebrated his 68th birthday at a time when, on the basis of all the established circumstances, would probably now be suitable and ripe for the broad reception of the unisonoric bandonion, but also in a time whose need for modern bandonions is unfortunately no longer matched by an efficient and open-minded industry. We are convinced, however, that some of Ernst Kusserow's excellent pupils will carry his extensive efforts in the field of bandonion into a more mature future.

So today our wishes of Ernst Kusserow are that he may remain with us for a long time in his old strength for the benefit of the bandonion.

Dr.-Ing. Werner Lipp