The glass armonica pictured here was constructed in london by charles james in 1761, made from ben franklins own instructions. The quality of tone to make glass ring is a result of the lead in the glass. Glass harmonica, musical instrument consisting of a set of graduated, tuned glass bowls sounded by the friction of wetted fingers on their rims. When he died in 1790, his beloved musical instrument. The word armonica is derived from the greek word harmionia meaning harmony. Inventor of a glass harmonica is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 1. The american scientist was living in london in 1757 when he heard e. The first practical working instrument was improved. Read about the glass harmonica that was invented by benjamin franklin, one of the founding fathers of the us. Its a virtual recreation of ben franklins rubbed glass instrument, known as the glass harmonica, armonium, hydrocrystalophone, or armonica. Franklin did design the instrument to be more playable and less awkward which apparently has worked very well. The glass armonica benjamin franklins magical musical. On fridays performance today, well go to a concert in meiringen, switzerland, to hear mozarts music for the glass harmonica.
For more on this fascinating story read the full article here on the. The glass armonica by composer eric harry, mozart adagio for. Benjamin franklin and the glass armonica sciencedirect. I know franklin invented a glass harmonica but the idea predates him. The armonica is a mechanised version of these musical glasses. Sadly, the early history of western free reed instruments is somewhat cloudy, but if we are defining the harmonica as a mouthblown free reed instrument where the notes of the scale are selected by the players mouth, rather than his or her fingers, then the usual answer to this question is that it was invented by sixteen year old christian buschmann in 1821. Inventor of a glass harmonica is a crossword puzzle clue. Get glass harmonica sounds from soundsnap, the leading sound library for unlimited sfx downloads. Can the melodies he plays defeat the powers governing this seemingly indifferent group of people. Glass armonica, glass harmonica, musical glasses, musical. The history of the harmonica, as we know it today, is an amazing tale which begins in the year 1821.
The objects pictured above are part of the franklin institute s protected collection of objects. Buy vienna symphonic library glass instruments vienna instruments full library, download featuring includes standard and extended libraries, 4,022 samples, standalone, audio units, vst, mac os x, windows. The idea of making music with glass was not a new idea when benjamin franklin. A musical instrument called the glass armonica or glass harmonica, was invented in the 1760s in colonial america. Marjorie gilbert is a freelance writer and published author. Just like fine crystal, the higher the lead content, the better the quality.
The instrument has a mahogany case and stand, and the musical glass bowls are supported on corks along an iron rod. Composer william zeitler plays a glass armonica, invented by benjamin franklin in 1761. The 18th century instrument was referred to as a verrillon. Armonica is the franklin instrument and glass harmonica is a generic term that may refer to either the set of glasses or the franklin instrument. He named it the armonica after the italian word for harmony. Inventor of a glass harmonica crossword puzzle clue. At the time, franklin was living in england as a colonial envoy.
This religious group believed that all hymns should be translated in a native american language. Glass harmonica simple english wikipedia, the free. Glass harmonica sounds download glass harmonica sound. Benjamin franklins glass armonica the franklin institute. Lynn received her masters degree in percussion performance from. Because its sounding portion is made of glass, the glass harmonica is a type of crystallophone. Franklins new invention premiered in early 1762, played by marianne daviesa well known musician in london who learned to play franklins new invention. The glass harmonica also called the armonica is a musical instrument. Facts about the glass harmonica invented by benjamin franklin. One of americas founding fathers invented a musical instrument that inspired original scores from mozart, beethoven and other greats. The story of benjamin franklins glass armonica mead, corey on. This updownup would come as a shock to benjamin franklin, who invented the glass armonica in 1761.
Gorgeous virtual glass harmonica arman bohn has released a free virtual instrument for windows, the glass armanica vsti. Its unknown when or where glass vessels were first used to create. A musical instrument consisting of a set of graduated glass bowls on a rotating spindle that produce tones when a finger is pressed to their moistened. Wet your finger and run it around the rim of your largest glass until you produce a sound. Delicate, eerie, rumored to drive the listener mad, or to attract ghosts, the sound of the glass harmonica hovers at the very edges of hearing. The combined input of the american academy of arts and sciences, the franklin savings bank, the corning glass company, and a team of engineering students from m. A glass harmonica was invented by benjamin franklin and is known as the franklin harmonica. Sets of watertuned glasses on which you can play tunes were popularized in england by pockridge and gluck in the early 1700s. You can easily create an instrument with the same effect. Glass harmonica velaslavasay panorama benjamin franklin invented the glass harmonica, and mozart wrote music for this unusual instrument. Glass harmonica is a corruption of franklins original word, a backformation influenced by harmonica a reed instrument invented sixty years later. Learn about how benjamin franklin was inspired by the sound of wet fingers on glass, leading to his own musical invention, the glass armonica. Regarding the use of the term glass harmonica, ive provided evidence below, that the bruno hoffmann album uses the term glass harmonica for the set of wine goblets in a box. The glass armonica, also known as the glass harmonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica derived from harmonia, the greek word for harmony, is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction rubbing a wet finger along the edge of the glass, as one might with a wine glass.
Glass armonica definition of glass armonica by the free. The glass harmonica is played by cecilia brauer, a pianist who has played celesta, a kind of small piano with chimes, with the met orchestra for more than 30 years. A musician playing a glass harmonica comes to a town governed by bureaucracy and corruption. The structure of the glass harmonica is apparently close to perfection in its piano like structure. This man was a composer and also signed the delcaration of independence. Delaval, a colleague in the royal society, perform on the musical glasses. A glass harmonica was invented by benjamin franklin and is. For more on this fascinating story read the full article. The glass armonica benjamin franklins magical musical invention. Sounds are produced by touching the rotating glasses with moistened fingertips. If you apply a simple but strict definition of a harmonica as a mouthblown freereed instrument, it was invented, technically speaking, by christian buschmann when he was 16 years old, back in.
It was then that sixteenyearold christian friedrich buschmann registered the first european patents for his new musical invention. William zeitler plays his arrangement of tchaikowskys dance of the sugar plum fairy from the nutcracker 1892 on the glass armonica invented by benjamin franklin. The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ. The enchanting history of ben franklins glass armonica. Initially franklin named it the glassychord, but soon settled on armonica as the name for his new inventionafter the italian word for harmony armonia.
When benjamin franklin invented the glass harmonica in 1761, glass blowing was still the standard way of producing virtually all glassware. This article describes his invention of the glass armonica, on which he played. Glass harmonica enthusiast, composer, and builder, gerhard finkenbeiner invented the modern armonica and filed the patent in 1983. She performs on a number of glass instruments including the glass armonica or glass harmonica, glass harp, musical bowls, and glass xylophone. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. The glass harmonica became so popular that composers like mozart and beethoven wrote musical compositions for it. He spent much of his time consorting with his fellow scientific enthusiasts in the royal society, and it was through them that he became. Over the years, inventors such as ben franklin and composers such as mozart were fascinated by the glass harp and contributed to its refinement and popularization. The hemispherical glass bowls which rotate around a horizontal axis driven by a pedal were rediscovered only in the last decades of the 19th century. Franklin saw william deleval playing a set of water tuned wine glasses in the spring of 1761 and decided to come up with a more convenient arrangement for the glasses. Lynn drye is one of the few glass concert artists in the world today. An avid researcher, gilbert has created an empire gown circa 1795 to 1805 from scratch, including drafting the gowns patterns by hand. But what exactly is a glass armonica, which mead notes was the first musical instrument ever invented by an american. It is made up of a spinning stick with glass bowls around it.
Glass armonica synonyms, glass armonica pronunciation, glass armonica translation, english dictionary definition of glass armonica. Thanks to finkenbeiners ingenuity and persistence the franklin idea has been brought back to life. It was invented in 1761 by benjamin franklin, an important figure in the history of the united. It consists of glass bowls of varying sizes filled with different amounts of water. Musicians, too, seized the opportunity to tune glass and invented various instruments using tuned glass bowls. Invented in 1761 by benjamin franklin, the glass armonica was one of his favorite inventions. The player rubs their fingers on the glass bowls as the instrument spins to make music. It is played on the same principle of rubbing a wet finger around the rim of a wineglass. This instrument, invented by franklin, and taken seriously by such greats as mozart and beethoven, is only now coming into its own again. Music for glass harmonica by thomas bloch on amazon music. A glass harmonica, also called a glass armonica, is a type of musical instrument.