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“With spirited charm, Mead weaves history, music, science, and medicine into the story...Fascinating, insightful, and, best of all, great fun.” —The Washington Post

A jewel of musical history—the story of Ben Franklin’s favorite invention, the glass armonica—including the composers who wrote for it (Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, among others); Dr. Mesmer who used it to hypnotize; Marie Antoinette and the women who popularized it; its decline and recent comeback.

Benjamin Franklin is renowned for his landmark inventions, including bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod. Yet his own favorite invention—the one he said gave him the “greatest personal satisfaction”—is unknown to the general public. The glass armonica, the first musical instrument invented by an American, was constructed of stacked glass bowls and played by rubbing one’s fingers on the rims. It was so popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries that Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, and Strauss composed for it; Marie Antoinette and numerous monarchs played it; Goethe and Thomas Jefferson praised it; Dr. Franz Mesmer used it for his hypnotizing Mesmerism sessions. Franklin himself played it for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

In Angelic Music, Corey Mead describes how Franklin’s instrument fell out of popular favor, partly due to claims that its haunting sounds could drive musicians out of their minds. Some players fell ill, complaining of nervousness, muscle spasms, and cramps. Audiences were susceptible; a child died during a performance in Germany. Some thought its ethereal tones summoned spirits or had magical powers. It was banned in some places. Yet in recent years, the armonica has enjoyed a revival. Composers are writing pieces for it in genres ranging from chamber music and opera to electronic and pop music. Now Mead brings this instrument back to the public eye, telling the compelling, fascinating story of its origins.

“Enchanting . . . With spirited charm, Mead weaves history, music, science and medicine into the story. . . . Fascinating, insightful and, best of all, great fun.” 

“Charming and fascinating . . . part musicology and part cultural history . . . Mead’s lively storytelling opens a window into a (as it were) mesmerizing chapter of music history.”

 “Benjamin Franklin's most beloved invention was the glass armonica, and this book shows how its combination of art and science is a key to understanding the many aspects of his creativity. Like Franklin and his instrument, this book has a spirit of fun. It will take you on an enchanted journey through the life of Franklin, the tenor of his times, and the timeless resonance of music.”
— Walter Isaacson author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

"Marvelously ingratiating music history."

“The genesis, rise, fall, and rise again of Benjamin Franklin's mid-18th-century rub-the-glasses device, whose enormous popularity led to wild claims about both its salutary and detrimental effects on listeners. Mead returns with a highly readable and informative account of the research and tinkering by Franklin . . . the author is a genial historical guide. Mead keeps the current swift, removing rough rocks that might disrupt our pleasant, engaging trip downstream with him.”

Corey Mead is an Associate Professor of English at Baruch College, City University of New York. He is the author of Angelic Music: The Story of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica and War Play: Video Games and the Future of Armed Conflict. His work has appeared in Time, Salon, The Daily Beast, and numerous literary journals.