The Denis d'or ("golden Dionysius" - spelling variants: Denisdor and Denydor) is, in the broadest sense, the first electric musical instrument in history. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ...

It was invented and constructed by the Czech theologian Václav Prokop Diviš (1698 - 1765) — his surname is pronounced "Deevish" and often spelled "Divisch" — at his parish in the Moravian town Přímětice near Znojmo in the south-east of what is now the Czech Republic. He was also a pioneer of research into electricity, being most famous for having invented the lightning rod in Europe, contemporaneously with but independently of Benjamin Franklin. Václav Prokop DiviÅ¡ (born 26 March 1698 in Helvíkovice nad Orlicí [Bohemia] (German: Helkowitz an der Wilden Adler), today part of Žamberk nad Orlicí [Bohemia] (German: Senftenberg in Böhmen) – died 25 December 1765 in PřímÄ›tice (German: Brenditz), today part of Znojmo [Moravia] (German: Znaim in... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Moravia in relation to the current kraje of the Czech Republic Moravia (Czech and Slovak: Morava, German: ( ), Hungarian: Morvaország, Polish: Morawy) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic. ... Coat of Arms Znojmo (German: Znaim) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... An example of a conventional standard, pointed rod with blunt tip, air terminal A lightning rod (or lightning protector) is a metal strip or rod, usually of copper or similar conductive material, used as part of lightning safety to protect tall or isolated structures (such as the roof of a... World map showing Europe Political map (neighboring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. ...

His passionate interest in music was crowned by the construction of quite an extraordinary musical instrument he named "Denis d'or", with the French "Denis" etymologically going back to "Dionysius", whose Czech counterpart is "Diviš" — hence the name. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Several people in history have been known by the name Dionysius: Dionysius of Syracuse, a tyrant Dionysius the Elder, a Greek mythological figure Dionysius the Areopagite, a citizen of Corinth who was converted by Paul of Tarsus Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, identified by some with a Georgian theologist Peter the...

The earliest written mention of the Denis d'or dates from 1753, but it is likely that it already existed around 1748. Some sources even date its existence back to the year 1730, which claim is historically untenable and not supported by any known fact about Diviš's biography and work. Unfortunately, after Diviš's death in 1765 the unique instrument was sold and eventually brought to Vienna, where it soon vanished without trace. What is more, very few and short are the documents about the Denis d'or which are extant, so our image of it must remain rather fragmentary. But at least some facts are known and these can be summarized as follows: 1753 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Events April 24 - A congress assembles at Aix-la-Chapelle with the intent to conclude the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession - at October 18 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed to end the war Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Building of... Inhabitants according to official census figures: 1800 to 2005 Vienna in 1858 UN complex in Vienna, with the non-affiliated Austria Center Vienna in front - picture taken from Danube Tower in nearby Danube Park. ...

The Denis d'or had 14 registers, most of which were twofold, and its complex mechanism fitted in a symmetrical wooden cabinet equipped with a keyboard and a pedal. It was about 150 cm long (5 feet), 90 cm wide (3 feet), and 120 cm high (4 feet). Basically, it was a chordophone not unlike a clavichord — in other words, the strings were struck, not plucked. However, the suspension and the tautening of the numerous metal strings (which, it is said, numbered the astonishing total of 790) were much more elaborate. The ingenious mechanism, which had been worked out by Diviš with painstaking mathematical accuracy, was such that the Denis d'or could imitate the sounds of a whole variety of other instruments, including chordophones such as harpsichords, harps, lutes and even wind instruments. This was mainly owing to the exceptional responsiveness and combinability of the stops, which permitted the player to vary the sound in multifarious ways, thereby generating far more than a hundred different tonal voices altogether. But the most special feature was that Diviš (temporarily) charged the iron strings with electricity in order that the sound quality might be enhanced — "purified", so to speak. This was an absolute novelty at the time. Additionally, he installed a slightly sadistic gimmick so that, any time he wanted, the player could be given an electric shock. Historically, a register was a sign or chalkboard onto which people would write cash transactions for later bookkeeping, often with chalk. ... A chordophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. ... Large five-octave unfretted clavichord by Paul Maurici, after J.A. Haas The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. ... Harpsichord in Flemish style; for more info, click the image. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube), in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. ...

Diviš was the first person to foster the idea of an aesthetic connection between music and electricity. Before him nobody had sensed the aesthetic potential of electro-acoustic effects. In the face of electrical research still being in its early infancy in the middle of the 18th century, this revolutionary idea could then, of course, only be technically realized by Diviš in the most primitive way. But, nevertheless, those historical circumstances cannot belittle the fact that the Denis d'or can justifiably be regarded as the forefather of all electrophones, at least from the idealistic point of view. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... An electrophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by electrical means. ...

This conclusion is strongly substantiated by the remarkable fact that the German theologian Johann Ludwig Fricker (1729-1766), who visited Diviš in 1753 and saw the Denis d'or with his own eyes, refers to it in a journal of the university of Tübingen^[1] as an "Electrisch-Musicalische[s] Instrument", the literal translation of which is "electric musical instrument".

References

1. ^ Tübingische Berichte von gelehrten Sachen, XXX, July 1754, p. 395.

External link

• Prokop Diviš Memorial