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Franklin's Glass Armonica

Posted by michael on from the three-part-armony dept.

CoffeePlease writes "At the time of his death in 1790, when more than 5,000 of his glass armonicas had been built, Ben Franklin had collected no money from his glass armonica. He refused to patent any of his inventions, saying: 'As we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.' Read more here and here. A historical/sci-fi novel by Louise Marley has come out on the subject also. It would be interesting to find out if any other early inventors shared Franklin's generous views on patents." There's even a FAQ.

1 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Mozart composed for glass harmonica by phr2 · · Score: 4, Informative
    including the Adagio and Rondo for Glass Harmonica, Flute, Oboe, Viola & Cello in C minor, K. 617, and the Adagio for Glass Harmonica/Keyboard in C major, K. 356. Both these pieces are on this disc. I think there might be one or two others as well.

    I don't remember any Beethoven compositions for glass harmonica but am not at all sure there weren't any. Glass Harmonica was very popular for a while. More recently composers including possibly Stravinsky and Hindemith (from vague memory, don't hold me to that) have composed for it as well.