Maelzel’s Panharmonicon: A Virtual Exhibition of a Musical Automaton from Beethoven’s Era
Maelzel’s Panharmonicon: A Virtual Exhibition of a Musical Automaton from Beethoven’s Era
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| # | Title | Creator | Description | Date |
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| 1 | 1. Maelzel’s Panharmonicon | Maelzel, Johann Nepomuk, 1772-1838, Buurman, Erica (project lead), Everett, Nathan (music arranger/transcriber), Gutierrez, Andrea (music arranger/transcriber), Dominguez, Mary (artist/VR designer), Huynh, Thong (artist/VR designer), Oakes, Jon (VR consultant), San José State University Artistic Excellence Programming Grant (sponsor) |
This project brings to life one of the most celebrated creations of the German inventor Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772–1838): the Panharmonicon. Maelzel is best known today for inventing the first mechanical metronome, a device that is still used by musicians to the present day. During his own lifetime, however, Maelzel was known as a showman who traveled across Europe and North America exhibiting his various contraptions and inventions. One such invention was a mechanical trumpeter, which... Show moreThis project brings to life one of the most celebrated creations of the German inventor Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772–1838): the Panharmonicon. Maelzel is best known today for inventing the first mechanical metronome, a device that is still used by musicians to the present day. During his own lifetime, however, Maelzel was known as a showman who traveled across Europe and North America exhibiting his various contraptions and inventions. One such invention was a mechanical trumpeter, which played French and Austrian cavalry marches and signals as well as marches by various composers. Maelzel also purchased a mechanical chess-playing device from its inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen (in fact, the “mechanical” chess player was secretly operated by a real chess player hiding inside the device). His other inventions include a set of ear trumpets that he fashioned for the composer Ludwig van Beethoven to use as hearing aids. Maelzel did not publish his design for the Panharmonicon, so the precise workings of his instrument are unknown, but the sounds were evidently created by various pipes and air-driven percussion devices, which were operated by bellows. The musical compositions were inscribed onto large pinned barrels, similar to the cylinders found in toy music boxes. At least one replica of the instrument was made during Maelzel’s lifetime, but no Panharmonicon survives today. This virtual reconstruction of the Panharmonicon was created from surviving images and descriptions of the instrument. Show less |
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| 2 | 2. Manuscript of Cherubini's Air pour le Panharmonicon | Cherubini, Luigi, 1760-1842 (composer) |
The Panharmonicon was a mechanical instrument capable of imitating the sounds of a full military band, including woodwinds, brass instruments, and percussion. Maelzel seems to have built his first Panharmonicon around 1805, displaying it first in Vienna and then in Paris, where the composer Luigi Cherubini composed an original piece for the instrument. The manuscript score of Cherubini’s Air pour le Panharmonicon, dated 1806, is now preserved in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin: https://digital... Show moreThe Panharmonicon was a mechanical instrument capable of imitating the sounds of a full military band, including woodwinds, brass instruments, and percussion. Maelzel seems to have built his first Panharmonicon around 1805, displaying it first in Vienna and then in Paris, where the composer Luigi Cherubini composed an original piece for the instrument. The manuscript score of Cherubini’s Air pour le Panharmonicon, dated 1806, is now preserved in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN795372345 Show less |
1806 |
| 3 | 3. Audio example: Air pour le Panharmonicon | Cherubini, Luigi, 1760–1842 (composer), Guttierez, Andrea (transcriber) |
Cherubini’s Air pour le Panharmonicon was composed specifically for the Panharmonicon to play, as was Beethoven’s Wellingtons Sieg. Almost nothing is known about the circumstances surrounding its composition, but the manuscript score (now preserved in the Berlin State Library) is inscribed “Paris, 1806.” Maelzel presumably approached Cherubini with the commission while he was in Paris demonstrating his musical inventions and mechanical chess-player. The Air pour le Panharmonicon is a songlike... Show moreCherubini’s Air pour le Panharmonicon was composed specifically for the Panharmonicon to play, as was Beethoven’s Wellingtons Sieg. Almost nothing is known about the circumstances surrounding its composition, but the manuscript score (now preserved in the Berlin State Library) is inscribed “Paris, 1806.” Maelzel presumably approached Cherubini with the commission while he was in Paris demonstrating his musical inventions and mechanical chess-player. The Air pour le Panharmonicon is a songlike composition in 3/4 meter that showed off the capabilities of the instrument’s mechanical wind ensemble. Cherubini’s score divides the instruments into two sections: a main section titled “Cantabile” (a musical term meaning “in a singing style”) and a smaller section called “Echo.” The Cantabile instruments introduces the main melody, which is then repeated in a decorated form that includes “echo” effects. A contrasting middle section turns to the minor key and introduces the trumpets and horns, and finally the main theme returns with yet more echoes and melodic decorations. Show less |
1806 |
| 4 | 4. Illustration of the Panharmonicon from the journal L’Illustration, May 25, 1846 |
Maelzel sold his first Panharmonicon in Paris in 1807 and built a second, improved version not long afterward. From 1812 he displayed the second version as part of a public exhibition in Vienna, where its playlist included Cherubini’s overture to Lodoïska, Haydn’s “Military” Symphony, the overture and chorus from Handel’s Timotheus, and Cherubini’s Air pour le Panharmonicon. |
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| 5 | 5. Audio example: Cherubini's Overture to Lodoïska | Cherubini, Luigi, 1760-1842 (composer), Everett, Nathan (arranger) |
Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842) was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century. Originally from Italy, Cherubini spent most of his career in Paris, where his operas enjoyed particular success during the Revolutionary period. The opera Lodoïska (1791) was his first international success. The plot centers on the imprisonment of the young heroine, Lodoïska, in the castle of the villain Dourlinski, and her eventual rescue by her lover Count Floreski and his... Show moreLuigi Cherubini (1760–1842) was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century. Originally from Italy, Cherubini spent most of his career in Paris, where his operas enjoyed particular success during the Revolutionary period. The opera Lodoïska (1791) was his first international success. The plot centers on the imprisonment of the young heroine, Lodoïska, in the castle of the villain Dourlinski, and her eventual rescue by her lover Count Floreski and his band of Tatar warriors. The opera’s dramatic climax was a spectacular scene in which the castle burns and part of the wall collapses to reveal the battling soldiers. Lodoiska’s themes of heroism and triumph over injustice influenced many later operas, including Beethoven’s Fidelio. The opera’s overture was one of the first pieces in the Panharmonicon’s playlist, presumably in an abridged form. Show less |
1791 |
| 6 | 6. Audio example: Haydn's Symphony no. 100, movement 2 | Haydn, Joseph, 1732-1809 (composer), Everett, Nathan (arranger) |
Joseph Haydn’s Symphony no. 100 is one of six symphonies that Haydn composed for his second highly successful visit to London in 1794–95. The symphony earned its nickname “The Military” from the second movement, where Haydn introduces a battery of so-called Turkish percussion (triangle, cymbals, and bass drum) as well as real military bugle calls. The movement has a folk-like main theme in a steady march rhythm, with the percussion instruments frequently added for special effect. A stormy... Show moreJoseph Haydn’s Symphony no. 100 is one of six symphonies that Haydn composed for his second highly successful visit to London in 1794–95. The symphony earned its nickname “The Military” from the second movement, where Haydn introduces a battery of so-called Turkish percussion (triangle, cymbals, and bass drum) as well as real military bugle calls. The movement has a folk-like main theme in a steady march rhythm, with the percussion instruments frequently added for special effect. A stormy contrasting middle section in the minor key is most likely the passage referred to as “the hellish roar of war increased to a climax of horrid sublimity” by a music critic after the symphony’s premiere in 1794. The military effects were wildly popular with early audiences, and it is not surprising to find that “Haydn’s Military Symphony” (probably referring to the famous second movement) was one of the items in the Panharmonicon’s playlist. Show less |
1794 |
| 7 | 8. Audio example: Beethoven's Wellingtons Sieg bei Vittoria, op. 91 -- Original version for panharmonicon | Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827 (composer), Everett, Nathan (transcriber) |
Wellingtons Sieg bei Vittoria (Wellington’s Victory at Vitoria) commemorates the victory of British forces led by the Duke of Wellington over the French army in June 1813 at Vitoria, Spain, which proved to be a turning point in the Peninsular War (1807–1814). The piece is best known today in the version for orchestra, though Beethoven’s original version was composed for the Panharmonicon at the invitation of its inventor, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel. News of the victory reached Vienna while... Show moreWellingtons Sieg bei Vittoria (Wellington’s Victory at Vitoria) commemorates the victory of British forces led by the Duke of Wellington over the French army in June 1813 at Vitoria, Spain, which proved to be a turning point in the Peninsular War (1807–1814). The piece is best known today in the version for orchestra, though Beethoven’s original version was composed for the Panharmonicon at the invitation of its inventor, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel. News of the victory reached Vienna while Maelzel was residing in the city, where he had befriended Beethoven and had even created a set of ear trumpets for the increasingly deaf composer use as hearing aids. At Maelzel’s request, Beethoven composed a commemorative piece that utilized the full range of the Panharmonicon’s wind, brass, and percussion instruments and incorporated the British national anthem, “God Save the King.” Once the Panharmonicon version was completed, Beethoven and Maelzel saw the potential for a more extensive orchestral version. Beethoven quickly arranged the piece for full orchestra and added a battle sequence that illustrated the events of the battle, including the marching and preparations of both armies and the artillery fire. The orchestral version was premiered in December 1813 at a charity concert for the war wounded. The concert also included the premiere of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and a performance by Maelzel’s mechanical trumpeter, but Wellingtons Sieg was the clear audience favorite. Show less |
1813 |
| 8 | 8. Wellington's Victory |
In 1813, when news reached Vienna of the Duke of Wellington’s victory over the French army at Vittoria on June 21, Beethoven composed a commemorative piece for the Panharmonicon at Maelzel’s request. Beethoven’s original Panharmonicon composition far surpassed Cherubini’s in complexity, employing the full range of wind and percussion instruments and including a fugato on “God Save the King.” Almost immediately, and apparently at Maelzel’s suggestion, Beethoven transcribed his piece for... Show moreIn 1813, when news reached Vienna of the Duke of Wellington’s victory over the French army at Vittoria on June 21, Beethoven composed a commemorative piece for the Panharmonicon at Maelzel’s request. Beethoven’s original Panharmonicon composition far surpassed Cherubini’s in complexity, employing the full range of wind and percussion instruments and including a fugato on “God Save the King.” Almost immediately, and apparently at Maelzel’s suggestion, Beethoven transcribed his piece for orchestra and added a new section illustrating the battle between the British and the French. The piece was an instant success following its premiere in December 1813, and Beethoven later published it as his Opus 91 (Wellington’s Victory at the Battle of Vittoria). View Beethoven's solo piano arrangement of Wellington's Victory in our digital collections of early editions: https://digitalcollections.sjsu.edu/islandora/object/islandora%3A8570 Show less |
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| 9 | 9. Reconstruction of a promotional poster for a Maelzel exhibition in London in 1814 |
Reconstruction of a promotional poster for a Maelzel exhibition in London in 1814, as described in Thomas Budby’s Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes of Music and Musicians, Ancient and Modern (London, 1824) |
1814 |