Wine glasses resonate when played with wet fingers, and specific amounts of drink, of course. The captivating sound resembles something angelic and other-worldly. What it produces resembles not a woodwind, string, bell or brass.
Having been a true renaissance man with a keen ability to decipher sound, American statesman Benjamin Franklin conjured up a dream-like invention capable of replicating the sound of a vibrating wine glass.
The glass armonica--a spinning arm adorned with glass rings of different sizes that vibrate. Musically.
Everything vibrates. From wood to skin, the devices with which we produce sound now seem nearly endless.
And Mr. Franklin certainly saw the merits in reinventing the way we play an instrument, too.
In 1761, Franklin revealed the prototype for his glass armonica. And while the instrument may have astounded onlookers, it has since--as one might have predicted--fallen into obscurity.
Thus, when one has a chance to witness a glass armonica virtuoso, one follows through!
Dean Shostak, one of eight glass armonica virtuosos in the world today, performs Sunday, February 2 at the Theatre House in Castleton, Va.
Show time is 4 p.m.
The performance should cater to all the senses, featuring other instruments like the glass violin and even crystal handbells.
Purchase your tickets, on the grounds of maestro Lorin Maazel's Estate, here.
Until then, here is Dean Shostak, in the flesh, performing Beethoven's Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor (WoO 59 and Bia 515) for solo piano, commonly known as "Für Elise," on the fabled glass armonica.
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