Here's an interesting one which I recorded back in the 80s from several radio broadcasts. The Glass Orchestra Toronto, founded in 1977, is the only ensemble in the world whose musicians create and perform entirely with glass instruments. Drawing on a wide range of musical influences and performance techniques, the musicians explore the unique sonic properties of glass, creating an ethereal, percussive soundscape with a vast array of glass instruments, both "found" and custom designed. The skill of the members in designing and making glass instruments has earned them a place in the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments.
The Glass Orchestra has performed in major cities across Canada and has toured the U.S., Europe and the Far East, playing mostly at art galleries and museums. The group also holds specially arranged workshops.
Instruments include tubes, bottles, wine glasses, glass bells and Pyrex bowls, a specially designed Glass Harmonica, the "Slide Clarinet" and the "Lepto Tootis" (glass wind/reed instruments), the Glass Marimba (glass bars on a resonantor box), the microtonal Tube Xylophone, the Crystal Gong made from quartz, and numerous bigger and smaller percussion instruments.
FAQ & A from the Glass Orchestra website:
Q - Do you break many instruments?
A - The Glass Orchestra is probably the only ensemble in the world that can count on the total destruction of its instruments. The breakage can be caused by the musicians in performance or can be caused by the correct choice of baggage handling company. They have developed the breakage philosophy that now instead of one instrument there are two or more new instruments. When an instrument breaks the result is usually more harmonically complex and interesting to listen to. (Unless the destruction is total!)
Q - Why do you use candles in the show?A - The ensemble chooses to place many candles in and around the instruments during the show and turns the stage lights down very low because we like to see the hundreds of reflections in the instruments.
Links:
The group compositions/improvisations "Euroglass 8" and "Euroglass 9" were recorded at a concert of the "Neue Musik im Staedel" series, on February 8th, 1980, in Frankfurt/M., Germany. Musicians were: Marvin Green, Eric Cadesky, Miguel Frasconi, John Kuipers and Paul Hodge.
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