Once condemned as an instrument of the devil because of the belief that its sound could damage mental health, the glass harmonica, invented by US founding father Benjamin Franklin, almost died out in the 19th century.
But thanks to musicians such as Thomas Bloch, who has been reintroducing it both in and outside of the classical world in the past decade, the instrument has been revived and local concert-goers will get a taste of its ethereal sound next Tuesday, when the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong performs a glass-theme programme, conducted by Jean Thorel.
Bloch and the orchestra will perform music by Mozart, Hasse and Franklin, who wrote Quintet for Glass Harmonica and Strings. The concert, part of Le French May, will also feature work by Philip Glass, Samson Young Kar-fai and Haydn.
Multi-instrumentalist Bloch is almost certainly the world's most famous glass harmonica player. He has given more than 2,500 concert performances in 40 countries. He is in demand for film and television soundtracks and has been featured on recordings by artists such as Marianne Faithfull, Tom Waits, Radiohead, and Damon Albarn.
But the glass harmonica wasn't his first choice. 'Originally I studied the piano, and then I heard the ondes Martenot and said, 'This is the instrument I want to play',' he says.
Invented by Maurice Martenot in 1928 the ondes Martenot ('Martenot waves') was one of the earliest electronic musical instruments. Bloch is one of its leading exponents. He teaches it at the Strasbourg Conservatoire, and the experience of learning it appears to have given him a taste for esoteric and endangered instruments.