Glass harp

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Glass harpist

The glass harp (also called glass game ) is an idiophone that consists of several drinking glasses arranged in rows , which are made to ring by circular movements with the wet finger on the edge ( sticky sliding effect ).

In the modern era, the musical instrument was used by the Stuttgart musician Bruno Hoffmann (1913–1991) to reproduce the compositions written for glass harmonica . Due to the special arrangement of the glasses, the glass harp is an extension of the original set of glasses. A similar instrument is the Indian jar tang , which uses porcelain bowls filled with water.

Well-known glass harp makers

In his 60 years of concert activity, Bruno Hoffmann has fascinated audiences around the world with the special sound of the glass. He brought together many original works through intensive research and initiated numerous contemporary compositions. Not least because of his numerous demonstrations in schools, he achieved a certain general awareness of the term glass harp .

Sascha Reckert from Ahlen continues to develop the historical instruments and by 2008 had built 200 glass instruments in his workshops in Cologne and Schloss Massenbach near Heilbronn.

Tonal range and sound properties

The glasses for the glass harp were specially made. The range of the chromatic instrument ranges from the small g to the four-stroke d (since 1959). The sound, which can develop better in the higher registers, is very bright and delicate. Thanks to the diamond cut and the matching of the glasses, the instrument never needs to be tuned again. The possibilities of the instrument exceed those of the glass harmonica , especially in terms of dynamics .

Compositions for the glass harp

There are 400 classical compositions and 400 modern compositions for the glass harp. The insane aria in the opera Lucia di Lammermoor and Mozart's quintet for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello (KV 617) are well known.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hans Riebsamen: Crystal clear madness tones. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of December 1, 2008, p. 9.

literature

  • Hans Riebsamen: Crystal clear, insane tones. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of December 1, 2008, p. 9.

Web links

Commons : Glass harps  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Glass harp  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations