The livenka (
Russian: ливенка) or Livenskaya garmoshka (
Russian: Ливенская гармошка) is a specific variety of
accordion used in
Russianfolk music, specifically in the region around the town of
Livny (
Oryol Oblast), from which the instrument takes its name.
Description
The livenka is a
unisonoric instrument, meaning that each button produces the same tone, regardless of the direction of the bellows.
The right-hand buttons (of which there may be 12 to 15) play the notes of the obikhodnyy pitch set, which may also be thought of as a series of overlapping
Mixolydian modes. (Banin, A.A. 1997. p.161)
The left-hand levers play intervals of thirds or fourths, so that adjacent levers operated simultaneously will play a triad.
The livenka has a very long
bellows, when compared to other accordions—sometimes having forty folds, and extending to over a meter in length.
History
The name of the inventor of the livenka was not preserved. It is believed to have been developed in the second half of the 19th century as a modification of existing
German or Russian
button accordions.
Bibliography
Banin A.A. Russkaia instrumentalnaia muzyka folklornoi traditsii. Moscow, 1997. (p.159-163)