Klarinet Archive - Posting 000376.txt from 2004/02

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] From classic to "new"" --- 9 contrabasses + 100 other
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 09:28:34 -0500

At 03:21 AM 2/22/04, ormondtoby wrote:
><Snip>
>It turns out (I had never seen or heard one before) that both Mozart &
>Beethoven wrote for the glass armonica --- which is basically two
>chromatic octaves (I think) of spinning bowls of different diameters,
>mounted horizontally on a mandrel that spins. The performer holds his
>fingers lightly on the edges of the bowls in order to make them 'sing'
>as they spin. His fingering resembles the ten-fingered fingering of a
>pianist. He can play chords, counterpoint, etc. The sound is
>somewhat 'ethereal', such as you might expect to hear in the score of a
>science fiction film.
>

An invention of our very own Ben Franklin - what a polymath!

George Kidder

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