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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
On Hollywood Squares, many years ago, they asked if Mozart wrote any music for harmonica. They said that the correct answer is "yes." The correct answer is "no." He did write music for the armonica (sometimes called the glass harmonica), which is a different instrument entirely. The glass harmonica (a generic term for several similar instruments) began as a set of wine glasses, which people make amazingly beautiful music with, by rubbing their fingers on the rims of the glasses. You may have seen this on TV. Each glass is tuned to a different note, by using a different amount of liquid in the glass. People have joked about tuning the glasses by drinking more and more wine, until intoxication sets in. I think that a little vinegar on the fingers makes the friction just right. The armonica is an instrument, invented by Ben Franklin, and based on the same idea. See Ben Franklin and the Armonica for a good picture of an armonica.