Anémocorde

Anémocorde [Gk. anemos, wind + chorde, string], stringed keyboard instr. invented by Johann Jacob Schnell of Paris in 1789, actually an *aeolian harp controlled from a keyboard. When the corresponding key was depressed, the trichord strings were set in vibration by wind conducted through tubes leading from the bellows. Dynamic variations were made possible by registers, but the tone remained soft and required a slow tempo. In 1803 the instr. was purchased by the Brit. physicist Robertson…