History of crystallophones/glass instruments

Rocco Wallis 27th February 202228th February 2022 0 Comments

A crystallophone is a family of instruments that create sound using glass, opposed to more mainstream methods of sonic creation. The first documented case of a crystallophone was in 12th century China, using sticks to excite glass dishes, creating a glass instrument (1). Stories tell of a similar instrument in 14th century Persia. In Europe, performances using wine glasses began, using small amounts of water to fine-tune each glass. Much later in 1743, Richard Pockridge constructed and performed on the angelic organ, a set of tuned wine glasses, which is now also known as the Séraphine, Vérillon or musical glasses.

In 1761, Benjamin Franklin saw a Vérillon performance and was inspired, leading him to create the glass harmonica (also known as the armonica). Working with a glassblower, he created each glass to be made to the correct size and shape for a specific pitch without the need for water. Each bowl is placed next to each other to make it more compact and for ease of use. Alongside this, the bowls were placed on a spindle which was spun with a foot lever, inspired by a sewing machine.

At this time, the armonica became a favourite in concert halls and performances, with composers such as Mozart, Naumann and Beethoven composing multiple pieces for this instrument. But soon after this, glass music completely disappeared after 1835, only being revived in the 20th century by Richard Strauss in 1919. With modern-day glass performances being inspired by Bruno Hoffman, dedicating his life to promote this long-forgotten instrument.

Apparently, the armonica was subject to mass hysteria in the 18th century, where people believed something bad would happen and that it could kill you from listening to it, so it happened. The only explanation for the deaths this instrument caused is mass hysteria and the frequencies produced being too extreme for certain people. This is the main reason the armonica faded into obscurity and disappeared entirely for nearly 100 years.

Quoting Dr James Kennaway “There were plenty of doctors 200 years ago who would have sworn blind that playing that music or even listening to it could kill you, especially if you were a woman, stone dead.”
Dr James Kennaway

In modern times, the glass instrument is an extremely niche instrument, with very few players in the world. Performances with this instrument are rare but have seen some use in film music, especially with the cristel baschet being used in Drive, Traffic and Solaris, all being composed by Cliff Martinez.