Glasschord

1786 Glasschord from the Hans Adler Collection
Other names	Glasscord, Glassichord, Glace-chord
Classification	Idiophone
Inventor(s)	M. Beyer
Developed	1785
Related instruments
Glass harmonica
Builders
Chappell & Co.

The glasschord (French: fortepiano à cordes de verre) is a struck crystallophone resembling the celesta, invented circa 1785^[1] by physicist^[2] M. Beyer of Paris.^[3][4] It creates sound by using cloth covered wooden hammers to strike glass tubes laid on a cloth strip, with no dampeners. The instrument has a range of three octaves, in various models from c' to c'', f' to f'', and g' to g''.^[5] The instrument was largely inspired by the glass harmonica created by Benjamin Franklin,^[6] and was given the name glasschord by him.^[7] On 6 July 1785, Thomas Jefferson that Franklin carried a version of the instrument with him, describing it as a sticcado.^[8]

Beyer originally presented the instrument on 19 January 1785, in a presentation at the French Academy of Sciences, while the instrument still was nameless,^[9] with the instrument being publicised in the Journal de Paris multiple times through the same year.^[10]

Many glasschords were built by Chappell & Co., until around 1815.^[11][12]

The instrument was used in some scores, most notable by Hector Berlioz, who wrote the first version of La Tempête, and Camille Saint-Saëns who used the instrument in L'aquarium.^[13]

References