DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

298 HARMONICA HARMONICON, THE
visited Vienna in 1791, and interested Mozart so
much that he wrote an Adagio and Rondo in C
for harmonica, Hute, oboe, viola, and violoncello,
which she played at her concert on June 19
(Kochel, No. 617). Sketches of his for another
Quintet in the same key are also in existence.
Kirchgessner was in London in 1794, and a new
harmonica is said to have been built for her by
Frosohel, a German mechanician. In England
the instrument appears to liave been little if at
all used during the 19 th century. In Saxony
and Thuringia, however, it was widely popular ;
at Dresden, Naumann played it, and wrote six
sonatas for it. At Darmstadt a harmonica formed
a part of the Court orchestra ; the Princess Louise,
afterwards Grand Duchess, was a proficient upon
it, and C. F. Pohl, sen., the Princess's master,
was engaged exclusively for the instrument as
late as 1818.
Attempts have been made to improve or
modify the harmonica by substituting a violin
bow for the hand, or by reducing the pecu-
liarly penetrating and exciting tone which is
said to be so prejudicial to the nerves of
players—but without success. An account of
these and of much more than can be included
in this short statement will be found in C. F.
Pohl'a Zur Geschichte der Glasharmanica
(Vienna, 1862). One Method only exists for
this instrument, that of J. C. Muller, Leipzig,
178S. A specimen of the harmonica, built by
Emanuel Pohl of Kreibitz, Bohemia, is in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington.
The following little piece lor the Harmonica
was composed by Beethoven for the ' Leonora
Prohaska 'of his friend Duncker in 1814 or 1815.
The autograph is preserved in the Library of the
Gesellschaft der Mu.sikfreunde at Vienna, and
appeared in print for the first time in the
original edition of this Dictionary.'
Feierlich dock nicht Bchleppend.
FfPP^
-•- -m^^-e^f- -m-
i^l^^^^^^
Es VjJiJheii drill |
zwci BhimeiL fOr
Liebe uiid TreutJ
i
Du dem aie
gewuiideu
j Jetzt kaiiTi ich
DurTodtL'Tiblu-
^ meu dir wcibii
'
' Tbis melodram,' as it is called, after it.s first appearanue In this
Dictionary, appenrcd. with other numbers written for the a;ime
plav. In the suppleuientarj' volume of Beethoven's works (Breitkopf
JiHUrtel, 1888).
:^^=,-4^
!f~
{aushalten)
(aushalten)
Doch wiichsen
die Lilie und
an meinem Roa^ auf'a
LeichenBteiu
neue.
The name Harmonica is also used for a toyinstrument
of plates of glass hung on two tapes
and struck with hammers. G.
HARMONICHORD. A keyed instrument
invented in 1810 by Friedrich Kaufmann, the
celebrated musical instrument maker of Dresden.
In its form it resembled a small square piano ;
but the sound was obtained not by striking the
wires with hammers, but by the friction against
them of a revolving cylinder (as in the ordinary
hurdy-gurdy), covered with leather, and rosined.
This cylinder, which in the effect it produced
somewhat resembled the bow of a violin, was
set in motion by a pedal worked bj' the foot of
the player. All gradations of tone, as well as
the power of swelling or diminishing the sound
upon a sustained note, were produced by the
pressure of the finger. For this instrument
Weber composed in the year 1811 a very in-
teresting adagio and rondo, with orchestral
accompaniment, published by Peters, of Leipzig.
Weber wrote concerning this composition— ' It
was an infernal piece of work to write for an
instrument whose tone is so peculiar and strange
that one has to call to one's aid the liveliest
imagination to bring it suitably forward in combination
w'ith other instruments. It is a cousin
of the harmonica, and has this peculiarity, that
with every sustained note its octave is prominently
heard.' On the pirinted title-page it is
said to be 'for Harmonichord or Harmmnum.'
This, how^ever, is an addition of the publisher;
as not only are the two instruments totally dis-
tinct, but the pihysbarmonica, the predecessor
of the harmonium, was not invented till about
fifteen years later. E. P.
HARMONICON", THE, a monthly musical
periodical edited by W. Ayrton, begun January
1823, and continued until September 1833.
It contained ably written memoirs of eminent
musicians, some of the earlier being accompanied
by engraved portraits, essays, reviews of new
music, correspondence, criticisms of musical
performances of all kinds, foreign musical news,
information on all stibjects interesting to musicians,
and original and selected vocal and
instrumental music. It was of quarto size, in
twenty-two 'I'ols. (counting the musical supple-