Thursday Salute to Originals: Shall I Play For You (pa rum pum pum pum) – On My Wineglass?
Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit quite like Christmas music. Merry melodies, quirky lyrics, and beloved classics quickly instill joy and nostalgia, becoming a soundtrack for the season. And with the radio stations blaring holiday music 24/7 since before Thanksgiving, this seasonal music is a little difficult to avoid. Over a month of listening to nothing but cheery holiday jingles will make even the grumpiest Grinches and Scrooges of the Christmas season change their tune (pun intended!).
Insistent as it may be, Christmas music does play special role in setting the spirit of the season. With jingle bells, trumpets, and drums accenting these cherished songs, there is a certain sound very specific to Christmas music; it’s different from the regular songs you hear on the radio the other eleven months of the year. But while Christmas music is unique in its own right, we’re willing to bet you haven’t heard it done quite like this…
Anna and Arkadiusz Szafraniec of the Glass Duo were, at one point, classically trained musicians and members in the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra playing the violin and trumpet. However, after recognizing the potential musical quality inherent in fine glassware, they decided to abandon their traditional instruments to make music with less conventional means.
Referred to as a glass harp, the Glass Duo uses glass goblets of varying sizes to produce music with a swipe of a finger. Carefully and precisely running their fingers around the delicate edges, sound resonates within the goblet, creating beautiful harmonies. Spanning 5 octaves, this glass harp is largest one in the world, and has an incredible range of note and pitch.
Oddly enough though, using wine glasses as instruments at one time wasn’t quite as avant garde as it seems today. Dating as far back as the 12th century in China and the late 1400’s in Europe, glass music was once quite popular, but slowly died out as time moved on.
Listen below as the Glass Duo plays their rendition of the Sugar Plum Fairy. If you had heard this song on the radio mixed in with all the other Christmas favorites, would you ever have guessed it was produced by dishware and not a traditional musical instrument?
Now, normally we salute those who make our Thursday blog. But in this instance, it seems only appropriate that we TOAST! So we raise our glasses to the Glass Duo for embracing unconventional and antiquated methods, and using them to put a captivating and unique twist on the holiday season. Cheers!
Image credits: Glass Harp