Reflets de cristal

ARTONOV invites you to an exceptional musical encounter with Thomas Bloch, one of the very few professional glassharmonists in the world. A unique opportunity to hear the crystalline sounds of this unusual and little-known instrument. 

Composed of 37 glasses that turn on an axis, rubbed with moistened fingers, the glass harmonica was invented in 1761 by Benjamin Franklin, who had previously heard a musician play on wine glasses arranged on a table. He thereafter decided to improve upon the principle. Unfortunately, his efforts aggravated certain of his contemporaries to the extent that the police banned the instrument, which subsequently disappeared around 1835. A doctor even suggested, in a text dated 1804, that the instrument could slacken all the nerves in the body and could bring to their knees even the most robust of men in under an hour. Happily, he was able to convince others of its merits, including Paganini who attributed it the nickname the ‘angelic organ’. The instrument’s potential for virtuosity was recognized by Mozart, Beethoven, C.P.E. Bach, Weber and Donizetti among others, as well as by contemporary composers such as Dusapin, Benjamin and Connesson. It has also featured in film music by Philippe Sarde, Gabriel Yared, Nino Rota and Alexandre Desplats.