The aeolodion or aeolodicon (also called in Germany ''Windharmonika'') is an obsolete keyed wind instrument resembling the

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

, its tone being produced from

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

springs. It had a

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of six octaves, and its tone was similar to that of the harmonium. After its invention around 1800, several modifications were made, including the aeolsklavier, aeolomelodicon or choraleon, and aeolopantalon, but all versions had largely disappeared by mid-century.

History

There is some controversy as to its original inventor; most authorities attribute it to Jean Tobié Eschenbach of Hamburg, who is said to have first made it in 1800. Various improvements were subsequently made by other musicians, among whom may be named Schmidt of

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, of

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

, Sebastian Müller (1826), and of

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella ...

(1833). This instrument was entirely superseded by the harmonium.

Related instruments

Aeolsklavier

A modification of the aeolodion was the aeolsklavier, invented about 1825 by Karl Friedrich Emanuel Schortmann of

Buttelstädt Buttelstedt is a town and a former municipality in the Weimarer Land district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 11 km north of Weimar. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Am Ettersberg. History Within the German Empire ...

, in which the reeds or springs that produced the sound were made of very thin wood instead of metal. For this reason, the quality of tone was made softer and sweeter. It was equipped with a keyboard and with a pedal which triggered a set of

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...

(one for each note) and produced a soft and ethereal sound. The instrument was unsuccessful and appears to have been soon forgotten.

Aeolomelodicon (Choraleon)

A further modification was the aeolomelodicon or choraleon, constructed by Fidelis Brunner at

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, about the year 1825, from the design of Professor J. F. Hoffmann in that city. It differed from the æolodion in the fact that brass tubes were affixed to the reeds, much as in the reed-stops of an organ. The instrument was of great power, and was probably intended as a substitute for the organ in small churches, especially in the accompaniment of chorals, whence its second name choraleon. It has taken no permanent place in musical history.

Aeolopantalon

In the aeolopantalon, invented about the year 1830, by Jozé Dlugosz of Warsaw, the æolomelodicon was combined with a

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, so arranged that the player could make use of either instrument separately or both together. A somewhat similar plan has been occasionally tried with the piano and harmonium, but without great success. It is chiefly remembered because

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

played this instrument at various recitals.

Notes

{{Grove1900, wstitle=Æolodion Organs (music)