While the iconic music from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is closely associated with the holidays, since it forms the score to the popular ballet The Nutcracker, it’s easy to enjoy year-round. And there’s nothing wrong with a sugar plum outside the Christmas season!
In fact, one of the more stunning (and we mean that in many ways) performances of the melody that became the ballet’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is a must-watch even many months later.
This version is by Anna and Arkadiusz Szafraniec, who form the music group Glass Duo. They are two of just a handful of people worldwide who play an instrument called the glass harp.
“What’s a ‘glass harp'”? you might be wondering. Well, almost exactly what it sounds like – a musical instrument that sounds a lot like a harp in terms of its musical range but is made out of upright glasses. They either vary in size or in terms of how much liquid they contain – both of which affect the sound they make when one rubs the rims.
And while it sounds like a parlor trick, playing the glasses actually goes back centuries!
Of course, the glass harp is quite an elaborate instrument these days, especially when Glass Duo plays it. They’ve played with orchestras and choirs around the world, legitimizing it as a proper instrument.
Set up on a long metal station, roughly 3-4 wine glasses in width, the Szafraniecs create exceptional music with over 50 glasses.
Since it was posted in 2011, their “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” piece has been seen over 7.9 million times and counting and a recording of it can be found on their album Glassified.
The pair begins by “tuning” their instrument, simply rubbing their fingers over the rims of the wine glasses (which are large at one end and small at the other). Even the 3-seconds during which they demonstrate the sounds they’re capable of making are something to marvel at!
As Arkadiusz Szafraniec begins to play, one can’t help but stare closer to see just what he’s doing to make the glasses make those sounds. It looks like he’s simply touching them, but he’s actually just wildly adept at rubbing the rims in just the right way.
In fact, if you take a fine wine glass and run your fingers around the rim, you’ll probably be able to get some noise out of it.
For these performers, their fingers need to be either moistened or chalked (we would guess chalked because of the length of the performance) so they can simply swipe the glasses quickly to get a musical note.
But this is simply magical. The music already transports anyone who has seen the ballet to a beautiful scene in which two ballerinas perform an epic pas de deux near the end of the performance in Act II. But the marvel that is the glass harp is almost impossible to believe.
Playing in the Basilica di Santo Stefano in Bologna, Italy, the acoustics are also magnificent.
As the duo plays together on the same side, they lightly step out of one another’s way as they access the larger and smaller glass in turn.
There are moments, at 1:30 for example, that boggle the mind for both the speed and precision they require.
And the glass harp makes a sound like no other.
Be sure to scroll down below to see the video because this is a performance you have to see to believe.
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