The glass harmonica was not, contrary to popular belief, invented by Benjamin Franklin, although he did create an apparatus that regularized the playing of the device. The instrument has a long history dating back to pre-contact China. Poland's unimaginatively named Glass Duo, however, here performs pieces that, with two exceptions, date from the specific period when the instrument was not used -- from the early nineteenth century until the 1930s, when it was revived by Bruno Hoffmann. The booklet, in Polish and English, ...
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The glass harmonica was not, contrary to popular belief, invented by Benjamin Franklin, although he did create an apparatus that regularized the playing of the device. The instrument has a long history dating back to pre-contact China. Poland's unimaginatively named Glass Duo, however, here performs pieces that, with two exceptions, date from the specific period when the instrument was not used -- from the early nineteenth century until the 1930s, when it was revived by Bruno Hoffmann. The booklet, in Polish and English, contains an interesting discussion of this period of neglect, which was due not just to stylistic changes but also to the belief that listening to the glass harmonica could drive the hearer insane. It's not hard to see how newly ambitious scientific minds could have come to that conclusion: the glass harmonica has a certain disorienting effect, perhaps related to the way the ear processes sounds of different frequencies and tries to locate them in space. The qualities of a glass...
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Add this copy of Drop in the Glass: Glass Duo on the Glass Harp to cart. $30.60, good condition, Sold by Valleys Books & More rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Roanoke, VA, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Dux Records.
