Reflets du cristal
©Jacques Piffret
Taboo instruments, sometimes dismissed because they are little known, or considered too pure, too free in their effortless maintenance and without physical ostentation, the Glass Harmonica and the Baschet Crystal can nevertheless lead us towards new territories of listening. They are among the rarest instruments and the only ones whose creation requires the use of the four elements: fire, air and earth to shape them, and water to make them sing. Composed of 37 glass bowls rubbed by moistened fingers as they rotate on an axis, the glass harmonica was invented in 1761 by Benjamin Franklin, who heard a musician playing on wine glasses placed on a table and decided to improve the principle. Paganini nicknamed it the angelic organ. Thanks to the virtuosity it allows, Mozart, Beethoven, C.P.E. Bach, Weber and Donizetti, among others, as well as contemporary composers such as Dusapin, Benjamin and Connesson, were captivated by its sound. Film music has also embraced it through composers such as Philippe Sarde, Gabriel Yared, Nino Rota and Alexandre Desplat.
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For many listeners, the Highland bagpipe remains inseparable from its cultural roots and traditions. Yet for the Breton musician Erwan Keravec, the instrument also represents a gateway to unexplored musical territories. A piper, composer and pioneering improviser, Keravec has devoted his career to expanding the horizons of the bagpipe, revealing its remarkable potential far beyond its customary setting.
The piano accompanied Mozart throughout his life from early childhood, when he performed in public across Europe. His keyboard works often resonate with those written for larger ensembles or for the operatic stage, serving as a genuine laboratory for new ideas. In the eighteenth century, however, the piano sounded quite different from modern instruments.
