Glasschord Explained

Glasschord
Names:Glasscord, Glassichord, Glace-chord
Classification:Idiophone
Inventors:M. Beyer
Developed:1785
Related:Glass harmonica
Builders:Chappell & Co.

The glasschord (French: fortepiano à cordes de verre) is a struck crystallophone resembling the celesta, invented circa 1785[1] by physicist[2] M. Beyer of Paris.[3] [4] It creates sound by using cloth covered wooden hammers to strike glass tubes laid on a cloth strip, with no dampeners. The instrument has a range of three octaves, in various models from c' to c'', f' to f'', and g' to g''.[5] The instrument was largely inspired by the glass harmonica created by Benjamin Franklin,[6] and was given the name glasschord by him.[7] On 6 July 1785, Thomas Jefferson that Franklin carried a version of the instrument with him, describing it as a sticcado.[8]

Beyer originally presented the instrument on 19 January 1785, in a presentation at the French Academy of Sciences, while the instrument still was nameless,[9] with the instrument being publicised in the Journal de Paris multiple times through the same year.[10]

Many glasschords were built by Chappell & Co., until around 1815.[11] [12]

The instrument was used in some scores, most notable by Hector Berlioz, who wrote the first version of La Tempête, and Camille Saint-Saëns who used the instrument in L'aquarium.[13]

References

  1. Book: Gétreau, Florence . Aux origines du musée de la musique : les collections instrumentales du Conservatoire de Paris : 1793-1993 . 1996 . Editions Klincksiek . 2-252-03086-0 . [Paris] . 36541348.
  2. Pernot . Laurent . 1985 . Repas électriques . Bulletin d'histoire de l'électricité . 6 . 1 . 177–188 . 10.3406/helec.1985.955.
  3. Book: Traversier, Mélanie . L'harmonica de verre et miss Davies : essai sur la mécanique du succès au siècle des lumières . 2021 . 978-2-02-145146-7 . Paris XIXe . 1333537233.
  4. Book: Beyer, M. . Notice sur le glace-chord de mon invention, et sur quelques autre instruments en verre, ainsi que sur divers objets de mécanique, que j'ai imaginé ou perfectionnés. . 1806 . Paris . 1–12 . fr.
  5. Web site: Glasschord . 2022-11-10 . Grove Music Online . 2001 . en . 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51553. 978-1-56159-263-0 . Schott . Howard .
  6. Web site: Heart Blood of the World: The Hydrocrystalophone Pennsylvania Center for the Book . 2022-11-10 . pabook.libraries.psu.edu.
  7. Web site: 2016 Florida International Toy Piano Festival Booklet . 10 November 2022 . The New Music Conflagration.
  8. Web site: Glasschord . 2022-11-10 . music.yale.edu . en.
  9. Book: Cohen, Albert . Music in the French Royal Academy of Sciences: A Study in the Evolution of Musical Thought . 2014-07-14 . Princeton University Press . 978-1-4008-5354-0 . en.
  10. Web site: Glacechord . 2022-11-10 . collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr . fr-FR.
  11. Web site: Chapell & Co. Glassichord British The Metropolitan Museum of Art . 2022-11-02 . www.metmuseum.org.
  12. Web site: Edinburgh collection checklist . 2022-11-10 . www.bate.ox.ac.uk . en.
  13. Web site: Chapuis . Jean-Claude . Ces si délicats instruments de verre . 2022-11-10 . Pourlascience.fr . fr.

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