Sometimes, instruments can be dangerous.
No, I’m not talking about whoever did the field testing to quantify how far one can throw a piano. I’m not talking about cartoon characters dropping pianos out windows to squash hapless passersby on the sidewalk below. I’m talking about the glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, or just armonica.
Driven to madness
With a sound similar to a glockenspiel (see also, the “Meet the Instruments” section of “Pitched Percussion“), it was invented by Ben Franklin in 1761. The glass harmonica fell out of popularity shortly by 1850. According to the “Purported Dangers” section of the Wikipedia page, some people claimed the instrument caused madness in anyone who listened to its music.
Musicologist Johann Friedrich Rochlitz wrote in a music periodical that it “stimulates the nerves, plunges the player into a hagging depression and hence into a dark and melancholy mood”. A floutist and harpischord player named Marianne Davies, who performed on the armonica in public, supposedly developed a melancholia from the tones of the instrument.
Glass harmonica ties to animal magnetism
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozert and Joseph Haydn were contemporaries of Ben Franklin. A German physicist and friend of Mozart by the name of Franz Mesmer played the armonica as a hobby. Meanwhile, Dr. Mesmer – for whom the word “mesmerize” is named – is known for a medical controversy around a theoretical biological process he dubbed “animal magnetism”. He claimed to have discovered the existence of a fluid in the body, which responded to magnets. His theory was popular in the late 1700’s to early 1800’s. He developed a treatment, which involved the playing of music on the armonica. Four members of the Faculty of Medicine appointed by French King Louis XVI debunked animal magnetism. The armonica’s popularity took another hit.
Ultimately, however, it’s most likely the glass harmonica fell out of fashion because it wasn’t loud enough to be heard with a full orchestra.
Take a listen, if you dare
I invite you to decide for yourself. Check out the two videos below. In the first, Korn used glass harmonica in their MTV Unplugged concert. They also use handbells, which makes it difficult to distinguish the glass harmonica sounds. Listening to it, you can imagine that a fully produced Korn performance would drown it out entirely, supporting the premise that the instrument simply wasn’t loud enough to compete.
The second video demonstrates the instrument by itself, so you can hear it.
Enjoy!
Instrumentally,
Michelle