Glass harmonica by rubbing glass or crystal goblets or bowls. The alternate instrument consisting of a set of wine glasses (usually tuned with water) is generally known in English as "musical glasses" or the "glass harp". When Benjamin Franklin invented his mechanical version of the instrument in 1761, he called it the armonica, based on the Italian word "armonia", which means "harmony". The unrelated free-reed wind instrument aeolina, today called the "harmonica", was not invented until 1821, sixty years later. The word "hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica" is also recorded, composed of Greek roots to mean something like "harmonica to produce music for the soul by
Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello purchased by Zweig from a Berlin auction house in 1930. The work was first published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1799. The adagio, in C minor, is 58 bars long, while the rondo (C major) contains 230 bars. According to Willi Apel, "Among various compositions for the glass harmonica, Mozart's Adagio in C major (K. 356) and Adagio and Rondo (K. 617)...both composed in 1791, are the most interesting. They seem to require an instrument equipped with a keyboard mechanism such as that constructed in 1784." Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello The Adagio and