Everyone has tried running a wet finger over the rim of a wine glass to produce a tone in this way. It is conceivable that this way of producing a tone led to the glass harp, because initially this instrument consisted of separate glasses, which were stroked horizontally. The American politician and inventor Benjamin Franklin revamped the instrument by connecting a series of glass bowls by means of
… a central axis, making it possible to play virtuoso passages and chords. Initially, this modern version became very popular. Composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Reicha were fascinated by the instrument. Nevertheless, it was thought that vibrations of the glasses eventually led to nerve palsy. The instrument was therefore banned by the German authorities. In our century, however, the instrument has again fallen from obscurity by Bruno Hoffmann (1931-1991). His student Michiko Takahashi released a CD of Mozart's arrangements as well as works originally written for the instrument, including the adagio and rondo KV.617 for flute, oboe, viola and glass harp, written by Mozart for the blind Marianne Kirchgösner. (HJ) _ that Mozart wrote for the blind Marianne Kirchgösner. (HJ) _ that Mozart wrote for the blind Marianne Kirchgösner. (HJ) _more
