14 DAY TRIAL // Leonardo Da Vinci designed a bowed keyboard music instrument like no other, resembling a piano but releasing string sounds. The instrument was never build by his designer but it saw a few attempts along the way. Now, Polish pianist Slawomir Zubrzycki just unveiled the amazing instrument in a live concert.
The experimental device was described in Da Vinci's late 1480 Codex Atlanticus notes with a diagram and sketches. The instrument is actually a combination, or a hybrid between a harpsicord, a cello, an organ and a viola. Leonardo's design focused on the connection between piano keys and violin strings.
The instrument, called viola organista, debuted during Zubrzychi's recital at the International Royal Cracow Piano Festival in Krakow, Poland. The Polish pianist spent more than three years building the amazing piece of art, with approximately 5,000 hours of work.
“I don't know what Da Vinci would say about that, but the instrument is very expressive, when I want to make something, my instrument makes something more – like it's talking to me,” the artist says according to Uproxx.
Even if from the exterior it looks like a regular piano, just slightly smaller, it is however quite different. It works with hammered strings, similar to a violin, but set in motion by some spinning wheels turned by a pedal connected to a crankshaft. The result is rather ingenious and the public who heard Slawomir play was amazed.
Allegedly, the first version of the viola organista was built in 1575 and was called Geigenwerk, but it didn't quite fit Da Vinci's description. In 1993, Akio Obuchi built several similar instruments but just in 2004 a modern reconstruction of Akio's attempts was actually used in a concert in Italy.
Slawomir Zubrzycki's creation is the closest version to Da Vinci's design that has been official used in a concert until now. You can listen to Slawomir playing the amazing experimental instrument in the video below.
