This is Leonardo da Vinci’s invention: a harpsichord, an organ and a viola da gamba. Hear this 500 year old instrument come to life for the very first time. This amazing recreation by Sławomir Zubrzycki is the result of a 5,000-hour project.
Majestic! Truly Majestic!
See the internal mechanisms in action in this short documentary featuring the pianist, composer and instrument designer and maker Sławomir Zubrzycki. Notice how the keyboard presses the strings against moving wheels wrapped in horse hair, producing the eerie yet magnificent viola and cello sounds. There are subtitles in english if you enable captions. You can read an interview with the instrument maker (in english) here: http://powszech.net/viola-en
Here’s the first public performance using the Viola Organista at the INTERNATIONAL ROYAL CRACOW PIANO FESTIVAL 18TH OCTOBER 2013, Aula Florianka. More about the instrument and its maker (in english) here: http://powszech.net/viola-en
Here’s the original drawing from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks (1488–1489).
