Glass Harmonium

[Tom Cole]

David ilvedson wrote:
> 
> List,
> 
> I was tuning today for the Ballet and came across an unusual
> (for me) instrument in the pit.  It looked like a tube shaped
> desk.  Inside were numerous glass bowls cupped into each
> other from large to small.  I would presume they are played
> with a mallet?  Anyone have any info on these devices.  By
> the way it was being used in the Ballets's "Othello" production.
> 

David,

According to the Harvard Dictionary of Music, the "glass harmonica" was
invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1763 after attending a London recital
on glasses filled with water. "It consists of a series of glass basins
of graded sizes fixed on a horizontal spindle, which is made to revolve
by a treadle operated by the player's foot. The spindle is fitted into a
trough filled with water so that the glasses are kept wet. The sound is
produced by delicate rubbing of the fingers against the glasses."

Several composers wrote for the instrument including Beethoven and
Mozart. It fell out of favor circa 1830 but was revived by Richard
Strauss in his opera "Die Frau ohne Schatten" (1917).

A newer instrument is the glass harp (Glasharfe) which was "constructed
by B. Hoffmann in 1929. Similar to the musical glasses of England, it
consists of 46 individually tuned glasses fixed on a resonant table."
Keeping the glasses tuned is a problem, owing to evaporation, but I'm
sure Dampp Chaser will find the solution. I'm thinking a drip system
will work.

Tom
-- 
Thomas A. Cole, RPT
Santa Cruz, CA
mailto:tcole@cruzio.com