The Speelklok Museum in the Netherlands hosts a number of musical curiosities. Among them is an imaginative orchestrion from 1914 called the Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violina. The instrument, manufactured by Ludwig Hupfeld in Leipzig, was meant to realize one of the instrument making community’s wildest goals: a functioning, self-playing violin.
The Phonoliszt Violina actually consists of not one, but four violins. However, each violin can only be dedicated to the control of a single string, which effectively renders the sound to be that of a single violin. It’s bow (with its 1,300 horse hairs) is circular, and rotates about the violins. The machine is also coupled with a piano, and when fed the proper violin and piano rolls, the two instruments can perform in concert.
When Hupfeld first unveiled his creation at the 1910 World’s Fair in Brussels, he dubbed it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” It makes sense, considering that he achieved what countless other musicians and inventors — including Leonardo Da Vinci — could only dream of.