Physharmonica

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Physharmonica in the Organeum in Weener

The physharmonica is a keyboard harmonica and is considered the forerunner of the harmonium , the harmonica and the piano accordion . In Vienna , Anton Haeckl built the so-called Physharmonika as early as 1818. Two of the instruments that were built in 1825 are exhibited in the Technisches Museum Wien : Inv.-No. 19.480, with 20 white keys and inv. No. 38,956. Other instrument makers in Vienna made similar instruments. A short description from 1840 can be found in August Gathy's Musical Conversations Lexicon. The term "harmonium" only became common much later.

construction

The instrument had a keyboard that could be played with both hands and a base. The bellows was moved by means of pedals. In the case of smaller specimens, only the right hand was played while the left operated the bellows. The range of this small version of the Physharmonica was from B to G ″. In the Wiener Allgemeine Musikischen Zeitung of April 14, 1821, the following sentence can be found: “The keyboard is very easy to play, and since the bellows is kicked with the foot, the attack can swell at will, or it can be reduced by a second mutation become …"

Improved reeds

A major innovation from Anton Haeckl was the generation of sound. Contrary to the reeds on the Aeoline , which were previously modeled on the Jew's harp , which still produced sounds in both wind directions, Anton Haeckl used the reeds , which were soon exclusively in use , which were screwed onto a reed plate with cutouts. Although these only sound in one wind direction, they have a cleaner and more powerful sound.

First accordion

It is also noteworthy that there was a small, portable version that can practically be seen as the first harmonica with a piano keyboard, as can be seen from the newspaper reports. Patents and advertisements in newspapers on accordions with buttons that were not arranged according to the familiar pattern of the piano keyboard were not found until a little later, around 1828.

Patent and similar instruments

Anton Haeckl received a patent (privilege) for such instruments on April 8, 1821. In a report in the Allgemeine musical newspaper from June 1821, the instrument is described and equated with the aeolodicon . Chladni remarks on the construction of such instruments:

“Thin steel strips are set in trembling motion by a stream of air, almost like in detail with the jew's harp or so-called harmonica. Aeoline or Aeolodicon. Is well thought out and executed. "

- Chladni : Contributions to practical acoustics
  • 1812: Bernhard Eschenbach's Klaväolin, a detailed report on its creation can be found in 1815 in the Anzeiger für Kunst- und Gewerbefleiß the Italian Gazzetta di Milano reported about it in 1816. In the German-speaking area, Johann Caspar Schlimbach should also be considered, even if his instruments looked different.
  • 1820: Carl Friedrich Voit , instrument maker in Schweinfurt, built improvements to the bellows in instruments based on the Eschenbach model. He claimed to be the inventor.
  • 1820: Mechanic Reich from Fürth with a new instrument in the form of a piano.
  • 1824: JF Lange from Kassel uses an aeolodicon at a performance in Vienna.
  • 1824: Anton Reinlein in Vienna received a patent for improvements.
  • In 1825 CA Bowitz also built the Aeolodicon in Breslau.
  • 1826: Child friend and Balde receive a patent for an aeolodicon.
  • In 1826 Leonhard Mälzel reported that he had already demonstrated a metal harmonica in Pressburg and St. Petersburg before 1826. On August 19, 1823, Leonhard Mälzel received a five-year patent for an improvement in his orchestral work; In 1825 he built a metal harmonicon with 53 french horns, trumpets, trombones and clarines and two timpani. This metal harmonica was therefore a relatively large automaton.
  • In 1827 Friedrich Sturm also built the Aeolodicon in Suhl and received a patent for a similar instrument, in 1829 he founded a factory with 16 employees.
  • Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann built instruments from at least 1828, which he also called the physharmonica.
  • 1830: Dowler develops his glossophone based on the model of the harmonica.
  • 1830s: Jacob Deutschmann significantly improved and expanded the playability of the physharmonica.
Illustration of a melodeon in Musical World from 1855
  • In 1855, melodeons were already being advertised in a music magazine in America , in which it was stated that 200 workers were producing 80 pieces a week.
  • Similar early instruments, made in France, looked like slightly oversized modern piano accordions , but were set up like a piano and played with both hands on a manual. The bellows was moved with the feet using cables. The instrument did not have a bass part, but is considered the forerunner of the harmonium. An instrument from 1880 with the inv. No. 15.289 is located as "Busson Brevete" (Paris) in the Technical Museum Vienna.

This incomplete list is intended to make it clear that the invention cannot be attributed to individuals. Many improvements were necessary until pulling instruments in different forms were sold in larger numbers. More about the history and the forerunners of the Physharmonium can be found under Harmonium → Section forerunners and origins .

Musicians and composers

One artist associated with the instrument was Carl Georg Lickl .

commitment

The use of an aeolodicon is documented for the 25th anniversary of the reign of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich in 1824. On February 15, 1824, the royal family moved into the court theater accompanied by the "music of the spheres" of an aeolodicon.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Musical Conversations Lexicon. Encyclopedia of the entire music science for artists, art lovers and the educated. Red. By A. Gathy, edition in one volume, 2nd edition, GW Niemeyer, Hamburg 1840, p. 358:
    “Phyharmonika; a keyboard instrument invented by Franz Häckel in 1821, the invention of which three other artists are also fighting. The sound of the same is produced by metal tongues which are made to sound by the wind, in that the same flows through the opening valves against the tongues at the low pressure of the keys. The instrument is about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide; the bellows is ruled by a kick; the tone is very pleasant and can be modified in all degrees by pressing the finger more or less on the keys. ” Full text in the Google book search
  2. ↑ a b Allgemeine musical newspaper, with special regard to the Austrian imperial state (= Wiener Allgemeine Musikische Zeitung. 5th year). Anton Strauss, Vienna 1821, no. 30, p. 239 f:
    “The local instrument maker, Anton Harkel, [!] Has invented a new instrument, which he calls Physharmonica, in the form of a 6 octave cross pianoforte, without Strings and pipes, in the bass the sound of the organ pedal, in the middle register that of the English or basset horn, just as in the higher cords the flageolet imitates most deceptively. The keyboard is very easy to play, and since the bellows is kicked with the foot, the stroke can be swollen at will, or reduced by means of a second mutation. Even in a very small format, the master makes copies of it that lie comfortably in the left arm while the right hand is playing and at best can gently accompany a song in the open at night […] (D — s) ”. Full text in Google Book Search
  3. ↑ Steph. von Keeß, WCW Blumenbach (ed.): Systematic presentation of the latest advances in trades and manufactures and the current state of the same. 2nd volumes. Carl Gerold, Vienna 1830, p. 37 f .:
    “The Physharmonica by the piano maker Anton Häckel in Vienna, to which the inventor d. April 8, 1821 a 5 year old. Priv. In 1826 it was extended to a further 2 years.It is an instrument provided with keys and located in a small elongated case, whereby the wind blows on metal springs by driving a small bellows and produces a very pleasant tone similar to the oboe. [...] The piano maker Carl Fuchs in Vienna received d. June 23, 1826 a 5 year old. Priv. to the improvement of Haeckel's Physharmonica, which consists in: 1) tuning this instrument without the use of wax or any other substance […] and 2) an instrument which is easier to handle and produces the uniform endurance of the tones, and in each of them Appropriate bellows. ” Full text in the Google book search
  4. ^ EFF Chladni: News of some (partly real, partly perhaps only supposed) newer inventions and improvements of musical instruments. In: General musical newspaper. Vol. 23, No. 23, p. 396:
    "[...] So, just like the aforementioned Anton Häckl instrument, it does not seem to be significantly different from the Aeolodicon." Full text in the Google book search
  5. ↑ EFF Chladni's contributions to practical acoustics and the teaching of instrument making, containing the theory and instructions for building the clavicylinder and related instruments. Breitkopf and Härtel, Leipzig 1821, p. 6. Full text in the Google book search
  6. ↑ | Klaväoline In: Weekly display for arts and crafts in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Volume 1, No. 21, October 28, 1815, pp. 225–234.
  7. ^ Gazzetta di Milano . No. 137, May 16, 1816, p. 534:
    “Del resto sta nell 'arbitrio del sonatore il produrre qualunque armonia, e nessun istromento musicale, sinora conosciuto, può paragonarsi all' Aelodicon, di cui è inventore il signor Eschenbach di Königshofen . " Full text in Google Book Search
  8. ^ "Carl Friedrich Voit (May 5, 1774 to March 20, 1854), also an innovator in instrument making. He built clavichords and developed the Aeolodicon (Greek Aeolus = wind), a forerunner of the harmonium. ” Orgeln in Unterfranken, p. 315
  9. ^ General musical newspaper. 22nd year, no. 16, April 19, 1820, pp. 267–269:
    “[…] Hr. Reich, mechanic from Fürth near Nuremberg, with his newly invented instruments in the shape of a piano of 6 octaves, which he calls: Aeolodicon. ” Full text in the Google book search
  10. ^ General musical newspaper.
    Volume 26, No. 18, April 29, 1824, p. 288: “On the 24th, Mr. JF Lange from Cassel could be heard with free fantasies on the Aeolodicon in the Theater an der Wien.” - A report from the announcement follows the performance "as a recommendation of the artist and the instrument". Full text in Google Book Search
  11. ↑ Systematic presentation of the latest advances in trades and manufactures and the current state of them. 2nd vol., Edited by Steph. von Keeß and WCW Blumenbach, Carl Gerold, Vienna 1830, p. 38 f .:
    “A special type of harmonica is that which the music box manufacturer Anton Reinlein and his son Rudolph invented in Vienna. You received d. February 10, 1824 a 5 year old. Priv. to the improvement in the production of the harmonica according to the Chinese style, according to which the same [...] is equipped with a keyboard for playing with a free hand [...] This instrument has some similarities in tone with the physharmonica, and in the lower tones it also comes with the clavicylinder pretty much the same. It has 3, 4½ to 5 octaves. During the game, the end of the game kicks the bellows with a kick. It therefore seems that the sound is produced by the flow of air through a specially constructed opening. ” Full text in the Google book search
  12. ^ Hans Schneider: Musical instrument making in Prussia. 1994, p. 114.
  13. ↑ Systematic presentation of the latest advances in trades and manufactures and the current state of them. 2nd vol., Edited by Steph. von Keeß and WCW Blumenbach, Carl Gerold, Vienna 1830, p. 10:
    “The organ builders Flight and Robson have recently made a large instrument [...] Formerly it was set in motion by a steam engine. [...] Perhaps the Aeolodicon also belongs here, on whose discovery and improvement d. Aug 1, 1826 Mich. Jos. Child friend and the mechanic Wenzel Balde in Prague a 5 year old. Priv. have received. With this instrument, through which not only a harmony of blowing instruments such as flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn and serpent can be produced, but also string instruments such as violin, viola and Viononcell can be made audible, 1) every single tone should be more solid, more powerful and brighter, 2) the bellows are set in motion by their own mechanism without the slightest noise, and 3) a secure and lasting mood is created for the durability of the work. ” Full text in the Google book search
  14. ^ Newspaper for the elegant world. 26th year, published by KLM Müller, Leopold Voss, Leipzig 1826, No. 82, p. 663 f .:
    “From Regensburg, in January [...] Our sensible compatriot, the royal. British and Royal French privileged court mechanic, Mr. JN Mälzl, recently embarked from France for North America to show his newly created works of art there, while his no less inventive brother, the KK Austrian privileged musical court art machinist, Mr. Leonhard Mälzl, in Vienna, is preparing to bring a new instrument, called the metal harmonica, to public inspection in St. Petersburg, after having been widely admired in Pressburg at the time of the coronation of the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary brought. ” Full text in the Google book search
  15. ↑ Systematic presentation of the latest advances in trades and manufactures and the current state of them. 2nd vol., Edited by Steph. von Keeß and WCW Blumenbach, Carl Gerold, Vienna 1830, p. 9. Full text in the Google book search
  16. ^ GStA Merseburg, Rep. 76 Ve, 9, Section 15 c. No. 8
  17. ↑ Drs. Dowler Glossophon or organ from the so-called mouth harmonica. In: Polytechnisches Journal . 36, 1830, Miszelle 52, p. 327. Quotation: “Drs. Dowler glossophone or organ from the so-called mouth harmonica. Dr. From the so-called harmonica (which is considered a new invention, Eola, in England ), Dowler built a type of organ that comprises four octaves, takes up a very small space, and sounds very pleasant. The Society of Arts rewarded him for this with their large silver medal. "
  18. ^ Wilhelm Hebenstreit : Scientific-literary Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. An etymological-critical dictionary of aesthetic artificial language , Carl Gerold, Vienna 1843. S. 560 - Digitized in the Google book search
  19. ^ Musical World. Volume 13, New York 1855, No. 13, page 360:
    "Employing two hundred men, and finishing eighty instruments per week." Full text in Google Book Search
  20. ^ Christian Sepp: Ludovika. Sisi's mother and her century. Munich: August Dreesbach Verlag 2019, p. 120.