Glass & Stones

Glass & Stones

produced by Josef-Stefan Kindler; performed by Viennese Glass Harmonica Duo (K&K Verlagsanstalt, 2006), 50 mins

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Abstract / Summary
"They are built of natural stone, these noble halls of this world heritage site. A fascinating thought when you're standing under arches that are hundreds of years old. The stones seem to whisper - because, in the quiet of their existence, you seem to feel how they are imbued with all those voices and instruments that filled these walls with their sounds - violins, the sound of trumpets, the organ and singing' wood and metal. But in the end, isn't it the material of the body that makes the sound of an instrument? It was the sound of the glass armonica that inspired Mozart to write a minuet and, after hearing how his composition sounded on the glass harmonica, Arvo Pärt gave the Ensemble his one-time permission to perform "Pari Intervallo" with the "glass instrument". Even Gottfried Keller described the sound and effect of the instrument as "...then it began to play in the most ghostly tones I have ever heard...". Now, the glass armonica is made of glass - plain old glass - melted sand, nothing more. But this is also the same basic material as these world heritage walls are made of - natural sandstone... And during this concert by these Viennese artists, it was as if I could feel the walls vibrating and I thought I heard the very stones singing." (Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt)

After 150 years of being forgotten, the glass armonica is now being built again, exactly like with the original instrument. It was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. The individual glass bowls (B flat - F) are attached to a rotating axis. For orientation purposes, some of the bowls are marked with gold stripes. These correspond to the black keys on a piano. The performer gently touches the rims of the rotating bowls with a damp finger, causing them to vibrate.

The verrophone (verre, French = glass) was invented by Sascha Reckert in 1983 and was based on the principle of musical glasses. Glass tubes are arranged according to size (usually on a chromatic scale) and attached at the vibration points. The length of the tube determines the pitch. Touching a damp finger to the rim makes the glass vibrate.
Field of Interest
Classical Music
Copyright Message
2006 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Content Type
Music recording
Duration
50 mins
Recording Engineer
Josef-Stefan Kindler
Ensemble
Viennese Glass Harmonica Duo
Format
Audio
Sub Genre
Piece
URL
www.kuk-verlagsanstalt.com
Label
K&K Verlagsanstalt
UPC (Physical)
669910669662
Producer
Josef-Stefan Kindler
Release Date
2006-01-01
Subject
Classical Music, Music & Performing Arts, Classical, Baroque, Romantic, 20th Century, Clásica, Clássica, Barroco, Romanticismo, Romantica, Siglo XX, Século XX
Keywords and Translated Subjects
Clásica, Clássica, Barroco, Romanticismo, Romantica, Siglo XX, Século XX

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