Denis d'or
Encyclopedia
The Denis d'or is, in the broadest sense, the first electric musical instrument
in history.
It was invented and constructed by the Czech theologian Václav Prokop Diviš
(1698 - 1765) — his surname is pronounced "Deevish" divɪʃ and often spelled "Divisch" — at his parish in the Moravia
n town Přímětice near Znojmo
in the south-east of what is now the Czech Republic
. He was also a pioneer of research into electricity
, being most famous for having invented the lightning rod
in Europe
, contemporaneously with but independently of Benjamin Franklin
.
His passion for music was crowned by the construction of quite an extraordinary musical instrument
he named "Denis d'or", with the French "Denis" etymologically going back to "Dionysus
", whose Czech counterpart is "Diviš" — hence the name.
The earliest written mention of the Denis d'or dates from 1753, but it is likely that it already existed around 1748. Some sources even date its existence as far back as the year 1730, but this claim is historically untenable and not supported by any available information on Diviš's biography and work. Unfortunately, after Diviš's death in 1765 the unique instrument was sold and eventually brought to Vienna
, where it soon vanished without trace. What is more, surviving documents about the Denis d'or are short and very few, so our image of it must remain rather fragmentary. At least some facts are known, however, and these can be summarized as follows:
The Denis d'or had 14 registers
, most of which were twofold, and its complex mechanism fitted in a symmetrical wooden cabinet equipped with a keyboard and a pedal. It was about 150 cm long (5 ft), 90 cm wide (3 ft), and 120 cm high (4 ft). Basically, it was a chordophone
not unlike a clavichord
— in other words, the strings were struck, not plucked. However, the suspension and the tautening of the numerous metal strings (which, it is said, numbered an astonishing 790) 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 harpsichord
s, harp
s and lute
s, and even wind instrument
s. This was mainly owing to the exceptional responsiveness and combinability of the stops, which permitted the player to vary the sound in multifarious ways, thereby generating far more than a hundred different tonal voices altogether. But the most special feature was that Diviš (temporarily) charged the iron strings with electricity in order that the sound quality might be enhanced — "purified", so to speak. This was an absolute novelty at the time. Additionally, he installed a gimmick so that, any time he wanted, the player could be given an electric shock.
Diviš was the first person to foster the idea of an aesthetic connection between music and electricity. Before him nobody had sensed the aesthetic potential of electro-acoustic effects. In the face of electrical research still being in its early infancy in the middle of the 18th century, this revolutionary idea could then, of course, only be technically realized by Diviš in the most primitive way. But, nevertheless, those historical circumstances cannot belittle the fact that the Denis d'or can justifiably be regarded as the forefather of all electrophone
s, at least from the idealistic point of view.
Indeed, when the German theologian Johann Ludwig Fricker (1729-1766) visited Diviš in 1753 and saw the Denis d'or with his own eyes, he referred to it in a journal of the university of Tübingen as an "Electrisch-Musicalische[s] Instrument" - the literal translation of which is "electric musical instrument".
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
in history.
It was invented and constructed by the Czech theologian Václav Prokop Diviš
Václav Prokop Diviš
Václav Prokop Diviš was a Czech priest, theologian and natural scientist.Diviš was born March 26 1698 in Helvíkovice, Bohemia . It has been claimed that the lightning rod he erected in 15 June 1754 was invented independently of Benjamin Franklin, but this has been disputed by other scholars...
(1698 - 1765) — his surname is pronounced "Deevish" divɪʃ and often spelled "Divisch" — at his parish in the Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
n town Přímětice near Znojmo
Znojmo
Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...
in the south-east of what is now the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. He was also a pioneer of research into electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, being most famous for having invented the lightning rod
Lightning rod
A lightning rod or lightning conductor is a metal rod or conductor mounted on top of a building and electrically connected to the ground through a wire, to protect the building in the event of lightning...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, contemporaneously with but independently of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
.
His passion for music was crowned by the construction of quite an extraordinary musical instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
he named "Denis d'or", with the French "Denis" etymologically going back to "Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
", whose Czech counterpart is "Diviš" — hence the name.
The earliest written mention of the Denis d'or dates from 1753, but it is likely that it already existed around 1748. Some sources even date its existence as far back as the year 1730, but this claim is historically untenable and not supported by any available information on Diviš's biography and work. Unfortunately, after Diviš's death in 1765 the unique instrument was sold and eventually brought to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where it soon vanished without trace. What is more, surviving documents about the Denis d'or are short and very few, so our image of it must remain rather fragmentary. At least some facts are known, however, and these can be summarized as follows:
The Denis d'or had 14 registers
Register (music)
In music, a register is the relative "height" or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument or group of instruments...
, most of which were twofold, and its complex mechanism fitted in a symmetrical wooden cabinet equipped with a keyboard and a pedal. It was about 150 cm long (5 ft), 90 cm wide (3 ft), and 120 cm high (4 ft). Basically, it was a chordophone
Chordophone
A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
not unlike a clavichord
Clavichord
The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces...
— in other words, the strings were struck, not plucked. However, the suspension and the tautening of the numerous metal strings (which, it is said, numbered an astonishing 790) 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 harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
s, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s and lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
s, and even wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s. This was mainly owing to the exceptional responsiveness and combinability of the stops, which permitted the player to vary the sound in multifarious ways, thereby generating far more than a hundred different tonal voices altogether. But the most special feature was that Diviš (temporarily) charged the iron strings with electricity in order that the sound quality might be enhanced — "purified", so to speak. This was an absolute novelty at the time. Additionally, he installed a gimmick so that, any time he wanted, the player could be given an electric shock.
Diviš was the first person to foster the idea of an aesthetic connection between music and electricity. Before him nobody had sensed the aesthetic potential of electro-acoustic effects. In the face of electrical research still being in its early infancy in the middle of the 18th century, this revolutionary idea could then, of course, only be technically realized by Diviš in the most primitive way. But, nevertheless, those historical circumstances cannot belittle the fact that the Denis d'or can justifiably be regarded as the forefather of all electrophone
Electrophone
The electrophone category was added to the Hornbostel-Sachs musical instrument classification system by Sachs in 1940, to describe instruments involving electricity...
s, at least from the idealistic point of view.
Indeed, when the German theologian Johann Ludwig Fricker (1729-1766) visited Diviš in 1753 and saw the Denis d'or with his own eyes, he referred to it in a journal of the university of Tübingen as an "Electrisch-Musicalische[s] Instrument" - the literal translation of which is "electric musical instrument".