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The accordina or a short history of wind accordions
Episode 12 – Harmoniphon – J. R. Pâris, 1836
Harmoniphon
« A keyboard and wind instrument whose sounds resemble those of several oboes, English horns and bassoons together. It is a kind of small, organised piano, where the wind is communicated through the mouth with the help of an elastic tube replacing the bellows, and is more capable than the bellows of giving musical expression by reinforcing and modifying the sounds at will. It was invented by M. Jacques Reine Pâris »
Nouveau dictionnaire de musique illustré
Charles Soullier, 1855, Paris.
Illustration: Advertisement in La France musicale, April 1838.
Harmoniphon
KEYBOARD OBOE
New instrument invented by J.-R. Pâris (from Dijon), patented.
The Harmoniphon is a small keyboard instrument similar to the piano, played by means of an elastic pipe into which one blows while the fingers act on the keyboard. The sounds it produces are those of the oboe. By means of the Harmoniphon, any pianist can therefore fill in the parts of the oboe in an orchestra, an instrument that is extremely rare, especially in the provinces.
Most philharmonic societies have already provided the Harmoniphon, and M. Pâris recently proved in a series of performances of La Juive, given in Dijon, that the place of the keyboard oboe was definitively marked in the theater. This is a fact that we would like to point out to the directors of the provincial theaters. To recognize the service rendered by Mr. Pâris to the musical art, the Athénée des Arts has just awarded him a silver medal, in the last session of April 8.
The Harmoniphon is also a delicious instrument for the salon. Two pianists can now play the charming compositions of Messrs Brod, Veug and Delabarre, written for piano and oboe.
The price of a Harmoniphon, oboe range, varies from 70 to 85 francs.
Those with three octaves, from 110 to 130 francs.
There are also Harmoniphon cor anglais, from 80 to 100 francs.
Illustration: Coll. Germanisches Nationalmuseum
To follow…
