The physharmonica is a keyboard instrument fitted with free reeds, a kind of

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

much used in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the early 20th century.

Description

The physharmonica resembles a small harmonium, but is differentiated from it by having no stops, being without percussion action, having only a 4 octave compass, and not speaking readily or clearly. As with the harmonium, the bellows are worked by the feet by an alternate movement, which also affords a means of varying the dynamic force of the tone according as more or less energetic pedalling increases or decreases the pressure of the wind supply. The physharmonica was invented in 1818 by

Anton Haeckl Anton Haeckl was a musical instrument builder in Vienna, who built the first physharmonica in 1818. Two of his instruments from 1825 (refs. Inv. Nr. 19.480 (20 white keys) and Inv. Nr. 38.956) can be seen in the Vienna Technical Museum. The physh ...

, of Vienna; in the original instrument the bellows were placed right and left immediately under the shallow wind-chest, and were worked by means of pedals connected by stout wire. A specimen, having a compass of four octaves and a very sweet tone, is preserved in the collection of Paul de Wit, formerly in Leipzig, transferred to Cologne and then back to Leipzig's Grassi Museum. A patent for improvements to this type of instrument was granted to

Anton Reinlein Georg Anton Reinlein was a musical clock maker in Vienna. A patent was granted to him in the year of 1824 for improving of the Hand harmonica ( Physharmonica). The Instrument had free reeds of ''Chinese manner'' and bellows that were hand operated ...

1824.

Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann (17 June 1805 – 1 October 1864) was a German musical instrument maker and inventor, often credited with inventing the harmonica and also the accordion. Biography Thuringia Buschmann was born in Friedric ...

also built similar instruments at least by 1828. There were also others who produced these instruments such as

Johann Caspar Schlimbach Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...

with

Bernhard Eschenbach Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar * Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 19 ...

, in

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

and in Stuhl.

Notes

References

External links

Le phyharmonica
Sets of free reeds Keyboard instruments {{FreeReed-instrument-stub

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links