About Benjamin Franklin, player and devotee of the glass armonica, Corey Mead writes:
Eventually Franklin’s instrument fell out of popular favor, partly due to claims that its haunting sounds could drive musicians out of their minds. Some players fell ill, complaining of nervousness, muscle spasm, and crams. Audiences were also susceptible; following an incident in Germany in which a child died during an armonica performance, the instrument was even banned in several rural towns. Some people thought the instrument’s ethereal tones summoned the spirits of the dead, or had magical powers. Franklin himself ignored this controversy, but the armonica never regained its early status as one of the eighteenth century’s most celebrated instruments.
(Quoted from page xxiii of Angelic Music: The Story of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica, by Corey Mead. Simon & Schuster, 2016.)
FOR SOMETHING WONDERFULLY DIFFERENT— HEAR "DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY” PLAYED ON THE GLASS ARMONICA BY CLICKING HERE.
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