The Denis D’Or or “Golden Dionysis”, Václav Prokop Diviš, Czech Republic, 1748.

 Václav Prokop Diviš (1698 – 1765)
Portrait of Václav Prokop Diviš (1698 – 1765)

The Denis D’or, the “Golden Dionysis”, was an early one-off  keyboard instrument built at the Prämonstratenser Stifte in Klosterbruck, Czechia  by the Czech theologian and pioneer of electrical research Václav Prokop Diviš (1698 – 1765). 1Ruschkowski, André. (1990) Soundscapes : elektronische Klangerzeugung und Musik, Berlin : Lied der Zeit, 15. Described as an ‘orchestrion’ because of its ability to imitate the sounds of wind and string instruments, it is often described as the first electronic musical instrument, yet, due to lack of detailed historical documentation and conflicting contemporary reports this claim remains uncertain.

Several accounts describe the instrument as an electro-acoustic instrument where the strings are vibrated using electro-magnets: “…In 1730 the Moravian preacher Prokop DIVIS generated sound by electromagnetic excitation of piano strings . He called his invention Denis d’or” and “His experiments were based on the electromagnetic excitation of piano strings , but could not prevail despite initially considerable interest to the public .” 2 Harenberg, Michael. (1989) Neue Musik durch neue Technik? : Musikcomputer als qualitative Herausforderung für ein neues Denken in der Musik, Bärenreiter, Kassel, 26.  yet this seems unlikely as the relationship between electricity and electromagnetism only became understood as late as 1820.

Other accounts suggest that the Denis D’Or was an elaborate joke whereby the performer could be electrocuted at will by the inventor

Denis d’or , an electric “Mutationsflügel” with one pedal , created in 1730 by the Moravian preacher Prokop Diviß of Prendnitz in Znojmo…This instrument was 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, with 790 strings . However, the suspension and the tautening of the numerous metal strings were much more elaborate. The ingenious mechanism, which had been worked out by Diviš with painstaking mathematical accuracy was such that the Denis d’or could imitate the sounds of a whole variety of other instruments, including chordophones such as harpsichords, harps and lutes, and even wind instruments. An untimely anti joke was that the player of the instrument could receive an electric shock whenever the inventor wanted. 3Sachs, Kurt.(1913) Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente, Berlin, J. Bard, 108.

Denis D’or named by Procopius Divisz , pastor Prendnitz in Znojmo in Moravia , in 1730 he invented keyboard instrument with pedals, which is the time that efforts in the area of instrument making became almost a caricature . The instrument was 1.57 meters long and 0.95 meters wide , and had a reference of 790 strings that could be tuned in  three-quarter hours to 130 notes.  This instrument allowed , among the sounds of almost all known string and wind instruments were represented , and even also loose jokes such that the player were given an electric shock as often as the inventor or owner wished. Apparently only one copy of this instrument was made which was purchased by the prelates of Bruck, Georg Lambeck. 4Mendel, Hermann (1872) Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon; Vol. 3. Oppenheim, Berlin, 110.

Diviš charged the strings of the instrument with a temporary electrical charge in order to somehow “purify and enhance the sound quality” leading to the instrument being described as an “electronic musical instrument” ( Johann Ludwig Fricker after witnessing the Denis D’Or in 1753) . However, with intricate practical jokes in the salons of the nobility being fashionable at the time of the construction of the Denis D’or, it seems likely (and also taking into account the historical development of electro-magnetism) that the instrument was just one of the many proto-electrical gimmicks of the Baroque and Rococo period rather than a serious contender for the title of the first electronic instrument. 5 Davies, Hugh.(2014) Denis D’or, The Grove dictionary of musical instruments, New York : Oxford University Press,33.

Peer Sitter supports this argument in Das Denis d’or: Urahn der ‘elektroakustischen’ Musikinstrumente?:

“Out-of-place” and “loose jokes” with electricity were among the popular board games in the salons of the nobility and bourgeoisie at the time the Denis d’or was constructed. In this context, the ‘electrical’ equipment of the Denis d’or joins numerous electrical gadgets of the Baroque and Rococo. Taking into account older sources and the findings from the history of physics, an electrical influence, an electrostatic drive or even an electromagnetic excitation of the strings is rather unlikely. 6Sitter, Peer.(1998) Das Denis d’or : Urahn der “elektroakustischen” Musikinstrumente?”: Perspektiven und Methoden einer Systemischen Musikwissenschaft, S. 303-305. Bericht über das Kolloquium im Musikwissenschaftlichen Institut der Universität zu Köln

The fate of the Denis D’Or is unknown, Feldhaus describes its last known location:

“He himself (Divis) handled it masterfully. When he invited acquaintances to play the instrument, he delighted in the surprise of the player, who sometimes received an electric shock. This “bad ghost” was placed in the armchair in which the player had to sit in front of the instrument. After the monastery was abolished, the Denis d’or was valued at 100 ducats (1784). Because of its originality it came to the k. k. Art Cabinet. But no one could play on it other than the Brücker monastery organist Wieser. He had to repeatedly appear before Emperor Joseph II. Finally the emperor gave the instrument to Wieser. He took it with him to his homeland, probably to Krems. I often tried, but in vain, to track down this work of art. To this day I haven’t been succeded. Perhaps the public’s awareness will help to determine where Bruck’s instrument came from and what its fate was.” 7 Feldhaus, F.M. (1920) DAS „ELEKTRISCHE” KLAVIER, Geschichtsblätter für Technik und Industrie, BAND VII 1920 ,121.

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References:

  • 1
    Ruschkowski, André. (1990) Soundscapes : elektronische Klangerzeugung und Musik, Berlin : Lied der Zeit, 15.
  • 2
    Harenberg, Michael. (1989) Neue Musik durch neue Technik? : Musikcomputer als qualitative Herausforderung für ein neues Denken in der Musik, Bärenreiter, Kassel, 26.
  • 3
    Sachs, Kurt.(1913) Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente, Berlin, J. Bard, 108.
  • 4
    Mendel, Hermann (1872) Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon; Vol. 3. Oppenheim, Berlin, 110.
  • 5
    Davies, Hugh.(2014) Denis D’or, The Grove dictionary of musical instruments, New York : Oxford University Press,33.
  • 6
    Sitter, Peer.(1998) Das Denis d’or : Urahn der “elektroakustischen” Musikinstrumente?”: Perspektiven und Methoden einer Systemischen Musikwissenschaft, S. 303-305. Bericht über das Kolloquium im Musikwissenschaftlichen Institut der Universität zu Köln
  • 7
    Feldhaus, F.M. (1920) DAS „ELEKTRISCHE” KLAVIER, Geschichtsblätter für Technik und Industrie, BAND VII 1920 ,121.

‘Clavecin Électrique’ or ‘Clavessin Électrique’. Jean-Baptiste Delaborde, France. 1759.

The ‘Clavessin Electrique’ from Jean-Baptiste Laborde’s  “Le Clavessin électrique; avec une nouvelle théorie du mécanisme et des phénomènes de l’électricité” 1761.

This instrument was constructed by the Jesuit priest Jean-Baptiste Delaborde in Paris, France, 1759. The Clavecin Électrique or ‘Electric Harpsichord’ is one of the earliest documented instruments that used electricity to create musical sound. Despite it’s name The Clavecin Électrique was not a stringed instrument but a carillon type keyboard instrument using a static electrical charge (supplied by a Leyden Jar, an early form of capacitor invented by the Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden around 1745) to vibrate metal bells – The mechanism based on a contemporary warning-bell device: The warning bell mechanism was based on an apparently unnamed method used in early electrical laboratories to audibly warn an experimenter of the presence of an electrical charge; it was probably invented by Andreas [Andrew] Gordon in Erfurt in 1741 and was described or demonstrated to Benjamin Franklin in Boston in 1746. An eight-bell instrument based on this principle was developed in about 1747 by Ebenezer Kinnersley, an associate of Franklin in Philadelphia, and the device subsequently received substantial publicity when it was mentioned in Franklin’s publication of his experiments with atmospheric electricity. Nearly 80 years were to elapse before the next sounds were produced by electricity 1 Davis, Hugh. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . This method allowed the player to create a series sustained notes from the bells, similar to an organ:

Two metal bells tuned in unison are hung, one with a silk thread, one with a wire onto a metal rod itself both hanging free by means of a silk thread at each end. Based on the principles of static electricity a beater, also hung on a silk thread is alternately attracted and rejected by each bell as soon at is released through holding down a key, n  positive and negative fields being created in the bells.2De Hen, Ferdinand J. ‘The Harpsichord and Clavichord: An Encyclopedia’ Routledge 2007, p71

The cover of Delaborde’s ‘Clavessin Electrique’ of 1761 – A misleading name of the instrument was an intentional attempt to elevate his invention above that of a Carillon – a mere musical-box: 3 Image: gallica.bnf.fr
“The electrical matter has something of the soul, as air is to the body, the guardian of the bellows globe, and ‘the conductor of the wind-door. The key is in the organ as a brake, with which moderates the effect of the air, I posed the same brake on the electric matter, despite his sensitivity, his agility. The air trapped in the organ there groaning, so long as the organist, as another Aeolus, opened the doors of his prison. If at the same time he took away all the barriers that stop, another would not produce a great confusion and disorder, but he does it Sorting […] with discernment. The electrical matter abode even as it locked up, and you feel unnecessarily around the bells of the new harpsichord, to the extent that is given the freedom, coll’abbassare the keys: it then becomes with great rapidity, but ceases d ‘ operate, as soon as the keys reassemble. This kind of cymbal hath also an advantage that others do not have, that is that where it ‘cymbals ordinary the non-continuous sound weakening; electric organ and harpsichord retains all the strength that the fingers remain on the keys.” 4 De Hen, Ferdinand, J. ‘The Harpsichord and Clavichord: An Encyclopedia’ . Routledge, 2007, p71
Delaborde added that during a performance in a dark room the listener’s “eyes are agreeably surprised by the brilliant sparks” that were produced by the instrument and that “the clavessin became at the same time audible and visible” . This phenomena may have lead to the creation of the Clavecin Oculaire by the fellow Jesuit Louis Bertrand Castel, an early exploration of the relationship between pitch and colour. The Clavecin Électrique was well received by the press and the public but wasn’t developed further. The model Delaborde himself built survives and is kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
The Clavessin électrique at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris
The Clavecin électrique at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris
Description of the Clavecin by Marc Michel Rey, 1759 in his "Le journal des sçavans, combiné avec les mémoires de Trévoux"
Description of the Clavecin by Marc Michel Rey, 1759 in his “Le journal des sçavans, combiné avec les mémoires de Trévoux”
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References:

  • 1
    Davis, Hugh. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 
  • 2
    De Hen, Ferdinand J. ‘The Harpsichord and Clavichord: An Encyclopedia’ Routledge 2007, p71
  • 3
    Image: gallica.bnf.fr
  • 4
    De Hen, Ferdinand, J. ‘The Harpsichord and Clavichord: An Encyclopedia’ . Routledge, 2007, p71

Bibliography

Laborde, Jean-Baptiste de, “Le Clavessin électrique; avec une nouvelle théorie du mécanisme et des phénomènes de l’électricité”. Réimpression de l’édition de Paris, Guérin, Delatour, 1761. Genève, 1997. 1 volume in-16 de 192 pages, broché.

Rey, Marc Michel”Le journal des sçavans, combiné avec les mémoires de Trévoux”, 1759. Volumes 45-46

Sabatier de Castres, Antoine et Prefort (l’abbe Bassin de Prefort)”Dictionnaire des origines, decouvertes, inventions et …” Volume 1.

Schiffer, M. B., Hollenback, K. L., & Bell, C. L. (2003). Draw the lightning down: Benjamin franklin and electrical technology in the age of enlightenment. Berkeley: University of California Press.

“Mémoires pour l’histoire des sciences et des beaux-arts”, Volume 236; Volume 1759