Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1911-07-27
MUSICAL CLASSES
Mozart Composed For Them and
Gluck Played Upon Them.
INVENTED BY AN FRESHMAN.

Richard Poekrich, the Versatile Genius
Who Originated Them, Once Used
Their Melody to Charm Away the
Baiiiffs Who Had Arrested Him.
Richard Pockrich. an Irishman who
lived in the eighteenth century, was
true genius. dreamer and an In
ventor He proposed metal ships, pre-
dicted flying machines, advocated bog
drainage and vine planting in the EN-
erald Isle. Invented an instrument for
| transfusing blood and was for some
years a brewer in Dublin.
II was In the domain Of art that he
achieved his one real triumph. the one
| by which he is known in contemporary
musical history, by which he became
known to general European civilization
during his lifetime and by which his
name will long survive. He invented
the musical glasses. These can be
heard today in vaudeville houses all
over the world and will probably sur
vive as long as the musical art itself.
Most Of our readers have heard them.
They are simply set of tumDler or
| goblet like glasses selected for tonal
quality to carry out musical scale.
| Pockrlch seems to have been the first
man TO be struck by the musical tone
in glass. and so he thought the thing
out and produced scale on which he
could play any melody.
He exhibited his discovery In Dublin
and finally took 1t to England about
| the year 1850, where II became the SEN
sation of the hour. Nothing was talk
ed of but the marvellous. simple, new
musical instrument. 1t seemed to the
ears of the jaded Londoners that the
heavenly art in all its elemental beauty
had returned to earth. Far from sneer-
ing at so very simple an idea for max
ing melody, the cognoscenti of London
went into raptures over the musical
glasses. Gluck, the great composer.
who was in London, did not disdain
to play his immortal airs upon them.
1.-The opera fourishes more than In
any recent year, wrote Horace Wal
pole to a friend. 1.-THE composer is
Gluck. a German. He is to have a
benefit. at which he is to play set
Of drinking glasses which he modu-
lates with water. think have heard
you speak of some such thing"
Not only did Gluck perform upon
Pockrich's new instrument, but Bee
thoven, Mozart and other great mu-
sicians in later years actually COM
posed music for 1t. Goldsmith refers
to it In 1.-THE Vicar Of Wakefield" Not
long after the inventor visited London.
and Benjamin Franklin speaks Of him
In letter to friend thus:
"You have doubtless heard the sweet
tone that is drawn from drinking
glass by passing a wet finger round its
brim. One Mr.. Pockrich. gentleman
from Ireland. was the first who thought
Of playing tunes formed Of such tones.
He collected number Of glasses of
different sizes, fixed them near each
other on table and tuned them by
putting into them water, more or less
as each note required. The tones were
brought out by passing his fingers
round the brim."
There is a story Of Pockrich, who
was making occasional tours to Eng
land after the invention of the musical
glasses. that illustrates the surprising
effect of his own performance on them.
It is told by his friend Brockhill New
burgh. gentleman of wealth and po-
sition. who lived in Dublin at the time:
"Mr Pockrich In his brewery near
Islandbridge. happening to be one day
seized by bailiffs, thus addressed them:
Gentlemen, am your prisoner. but
before I do myself the honor to attend
you give me leave as an humble per.
former In musick to entertain you with
la tune
"'Sir.' exclaimed one of the bailiffs,
we came here to execute our warrant,
not to hear tunes
Gentlemen says the captain, I
submit to your authority, but in the
interim while you are only taking a
dram-here. Jack calling to his serv-
anti. bring bottle Of the Rosa Soils ]
lately distilled-I say, gentlemen, be-
fore you take a dram l shall dispatch
my tune
I'm the meanwhile he fiourishes q
prelude on the glasses and afterwa-d
displays his skill through all the pleas
Ing turns and variations of The Black
Joke The monsters, charmed with
the magic of his sounds. for some time
stand and gaze. At length. recovering
from their trance. they thus accost the
captain.
"'Sir. upon your parole Of honor to
keep the secret we give you your lib
erty. IT'S well playing upon glasses
is not more common; If 1t were be-
lieve our trade would find little en-
| ployment'"
Another musical instrument that
Pockrich developed as no man mad
ever dreamed Of before was the drIm.
He had dreamed Of harmony even in
the drum. He planned an orchestra of
drums only. There were to be twenty
of them. varying in size and tone from
the smallest trebles to the BASES. to
be played by one person standing with
the drums arranged about him in a
circle. Pockrich never succeeded In
producing true melody from concert
of drums.
The musical glasses were the direct
cause Of Pockrich's death. 1t was
while he was upon one of his musical
tours in England in the year 1859 that
the hotel In London in which he was
sleeping caught fire and he was burn
ed to death.-Joseph Lewis French IN
New York Post.
The Denial Habit.
"Let me caution you about one