Preparing for Orchestral Dates / The Glass Armonica

Preparing for Orchestral Dates:
An Evening with Film Orchestra Contractors David Sabee and Simon James

Due to its reasonable musician's union and depth of freelance orchestral musicians, the Seattle area is enjoying an explosion of film score recording work. Bastyr University and Music Works Northwest have served as the recording stage for the musical scores to such films as Mr. Holland's Opus, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Lake Placid, Army of Darkness, The Astronauts Wife, Apt Pupil, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery and Office Space.

At the forefront of this Seattle phenomenon are Sabee and James. Be it a single didgeridoo, a mass choir, or a 100 piece orchestra, these two men have contracted the necessary musicians to record the music of such film composers as Elmer Bernstein, Michael Kaman, James Newton Howard, Don Davis, John Ottman, Gary Chang, Laurence Rosenthal, Hummie Mann, George S. Clinton, Cliff Eidelman, Joel Goldsmith, Anthony Marinelli, Marco Beltrami, and Basil Poledouris.

For more information, contact David Sabee at Seattle Music: 206-283-6899 or www.seattlemusic.com. Simon James can be reached at 206-789-1391.  

The Glass Armonica with William Zeitler

Photo courtesy William Zeitler

Invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761 (who claimed it was the one invention of his that gave him the most personal satisfaction), the Glass Armonica utilizes the same concept as that of the sound produced when half-filled wineglasses are stroked with moistened fingers on the rim. Several different-sized glasses are attached to a post on a horizontal frame, which is then pumped with a foot pedal as the instrumentalist touches the rims with their hands, producing angelic sounds.

The Glass Armonica ("armonica" being the Italian word for harmony) enjoyed a suprising popularity in the late 1700s, with concerts of its music packing halls throughout America and Europe. Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn all wrote pieces for the Glass Armonica.

But eventually, the Glass Armonica would succumb to a series of odd events that would doom the instrument to a questionable reputation. Controversial Viennese psychiatrist Franz Mesmer used its otherworldly sounds to hypnotize his patients. Lead used in the paint to color code the glasses would seep into the instrumentalist's fingers, causing mental illness. And during one Glass Armonica concert in Germany, an 8 year-old boy mysteriously dropped dead; doctors later could not determine his cause of death.

The Glass Armonica enjoyed resurgence in the late 20th century, with a new, modern design now being manufactured by a maker in New England.

For more info, check out Zeitler's Web site at www.glassarmonica.com

NOTE: There were no sudden, mysterious deaths of 8 year-old German boys at this event.

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