Glass harmonica
When Benjamin Franklin invented his mechanical version of the instrument in 1761, he called it the armonica, based on the Italian word armonia, which means "harmony".
[citation needed] Edward Delaval, a friend of Benjamin Franklin and a fellow of the Royal Society, extended the experiments of Pockrich, contriving a set of glasses better tuned and easier to play.
In April 1760, the poet Thomas Gray wrote to James Brown, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, of a performance by Delaval that: "No instrument I know has so celestial a tone.
[11] Franklin worked with London glassblower Charles James to build one, and it had its world premiere in early 1762, played by Marianne Davies.
[13] With the Franklin design, it is possible to play ten glasses simultaneously if desired, a technique that is very difficult if not impossible to execute using upright goblets.
Franklin also advocated the use of a small amount of powdered chalk on the fingers, which under some acidic water conditions helped produce a clear tone.
Some attempted improvements on the armonica included adding keyboards,[14] placing pads between the bowls to reduce sympathetic vibrations,[citation needed] and using violin bows.
[21] Gaetano Donizetti used the instrument in the accompaniment to Amelia's aria "Par che mi dica ancora" in Il castello di Kenilworth, premiered in 1829.
[22] He also originally specified the instrument in Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) as a haunting accompaniment to the heroine's "mad scene", though before the premiere he was required by the producers to rewrite the part for two flutes.
George Benjamin's opera Written on Skin, which premiered at the 2012 Aix-en-Provence Festival, includes a prominent and elaborate part for the glass harmonica.
[27] Johann August Apel's short story "Der Geisterruf" ('The Ghost Call') from Gespensterbuch (volume 3, 1811) centers on the ethereal otherworldly quality of glass harmonicas.
After touring for many years in duo performances with her celebrated vocalist sister, she was also said to have been afflicted with a melancholia attributed to the plaintive tones of the instrument.
It has been claimed the sound-producing mechanism did not generate sufficient power to fill the large halls that were becoming home to modern stringed instruments, brass, woodwinds, and percussion.
[34] Historical replicas by Eisch use so-called "White Crystal" developed in the 18th c. replacing the lead with a higher potash content; many modern newly invented devices, such as those made by Finkenbeiner, are made from so-called Quartz "pure silica glass" – a glass formulation developed in the early 20th c. for scientific purposes.
"[9] A music critic for the Morning Chronicle, writing of a performance by Kirchgessner in 1794, said, "Her taste is chastened and the dulcet notes of the instrument would be delightful indeed, were they more powerful and articulate; but that we believe the most perfect execution cannot make them.
The historical instruments with gold bands indicated the equivalent of the black keys on the piano, simplifying the multi-hued painted bowl rims with white accidentals as specified by Franklin.
Finkenbeiner Inc., of Waltham, Massachusetts, continues to produce versions of these instruments commercially as of 2014[update], featuring glass elements made of scientific formulated fused-silica quartz.
French instrument makers and artists Bernard and François Baschet invented a modern variation of the Chladni Euphone in 1952, the "crystal organ" or Cristal di Baschet, which consists of up to 52 chromatically tuned resonating metal rods that are set into motion by attached glass rods that are rubbed with wet fingers.
Some thin added metallic wires resembling cat whiskers are placed under the instrument, supposedly to increase the sound power of high-pitched frequencies.
I can still recall being mesmerized by the appearance of the original Benjamin Franklin harmonica then on display in its own showcase in the entry rotunda of the city's famed science museum.
"[42] When Ronstadt joined Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris to make the 1999 album Trio II, Dennis James played the glass harmonica in their cover of "After the Gold Rush".
[43] James Horner used a glass harmonica and pan flute for Spock's theme in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
