Leonardo da Vinci designed the Viola Organista more than 500 years ago, but never got round to actually building the thing. Cut to the present day: Polish concert pianist Slawomir Zubrzycki has completed da Vinci’s task for him, having spent three years and 5,000 hours creating the instrument.
The Viola Organista recently debuted the Viola Organista at the Academy of Music in Krakow, where Zubrzycki noted, “This instrument has the characteristics of three we know: the harpsichord, the organ and the viola da gamba.”
The instrument’s interior features 61 steel strings, which run across a golden spruce lining in a fashion similar to that of a baby grand. Each string is connected to the keyboard, complete with smaller black keys for sharp and flat notes. Yet, unlike a piano, it has no hammered dulcimers. Instead, it features four spinning wheels wrapped in horsetail hair, like violin bows.
To turn them, a pedal is pumped below the keyboard connected to a crankshaft, which, as he touches the keys, presses the strings down onto the wheels to produce tones similar to those of a cello, organ and accordion. “I have no idea what Leonardo da Vinci might think of the instrument I’ve made, but I’d hope he’d be pleased,” said Zubrzycki.
To hear the Viola Organista doing its thing, click the following: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv3py3Ap8_Y#t=271
