Viola Organista（管風琴中提琴）是達文西最奇妙的音樂發明之一。雖然在他生前從未真正被製作出來，但他的設計圖保存於《大西洋手稿》（Codex Atlanticus）中。這件樂器結合了鍵盤樂器與弓弦樂器的特點，展現了達文西將機械、聲學與音樂想像力融合的天才構想。直到 21 世紀，才有人依據他的草圖將它實際建造出來。
它是什麼
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約在 1488–1489 年，達文西繪製了這件樂器的設計圖。
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它結合了 鍵盤樂器（如大鍵琴或管風琴）與 弓弦樂器（如中提琴或維奧爾琴）的特徵。
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不同於撥弦或擊弦，Viola Organista 使用 塗有松香的摩擦帶或輪子，在琴鍵按下時持續摩擦琴弦，產生聲音。
運作原理
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鍵盤：演奏者像彈大鍵琴一樣按下琴鍵。
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機械結構：每個琴鍵會將琴弦壓向持續轉動的摩擦輪或摩擦帶。
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聲音：產生一種 持續、歌唱般的音色，介於管風琴與弦樂合奏之間。
歷史
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達文西本人從未親手製作這件樂器，他的草圖也不完整。
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幾個世紀以來，這個設計一直吸引樂器製作者的興趣，但沒有任何真正的文藝復興時期實物流傳下來。
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2013 年，波蘭鋼琴家兼樂器製作者 Sławomir Zubrzycki 根據達文西的草圖建造了第一台可演奏的 Viola Organista。它的聲音令人驚艷，被形容為管風琴、 大提琴與維奧爾琴合奏的融合。
意義
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Viola Organista 展現了達文西在機械、聲學與音樂想像上的天才。
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它預示了後來一些「帶弓鍵盤樂器」的實驗，雖然這類樂器從未成為主流。
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如今，它被視為 文藝復興創新的象徵，提醒世人達文西的構想往往超越了他的時代。
Viola Organista 是達文西夢想中的「能像弦樂般歌唱的鍵盤樂器」。雖然在他生前未能實現，但 500 年後終於被製作出來，證明了他設計的前瞻性與跨時代的想像力。
Reference:
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_organista
Classic FM – https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/leonardo-da-vinci-viola-organista/
Organology Encyclopedia – https://organology.net/instrument/viola-organista/
Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) coined the term Renaissance Man after applying the concept of Renaissance Humanism and opined that such a man would be able “to do all things if he will.” Even though Leonardo da Vinci was only 20 when Alberti died, he more than fulfilled the elder man’s vision. He sketched diagrams for 20th century parachutes by observing falling leaves, drew up plans for a submarine, and sketched a helicopter after seeing the whirling seeds of the maple tree.
In addition to these scientific pursuits, he found time to be one of the greatest artists of all time. Many people don’t know, however, that this incredible thinker was also a musician. According to his biographers, Leonardo was an outstanding lira da braccio player for his time, and he used this viola type instrument to improvise while he sang. He also played the lute and probably the organ. As for keyboard instruments he even designed his own: the viola organista. He outlined the basic concept for this heretofore unknown instrument in his 1488 collection of notebooks called theCodex Atlanticus.
A Unique Instrument
The instrument’s sound is unique in the world. The circular horsehair bows of the instrument are driven by the pedals, and, as long as the player continues pedaling, the sound sustains. Deft musicians can even wrest a crescendo from a single note. Leonardo’s passion for expressing life’s beauty through motion reinforces his belief that music was the highest of the arts because it was produced through motion.
ven so great a master as da Vinci had his flaws, however, and his was procrastination. Leonardo designed, drew, and built almost 30 different protoype parts of the viola organista, which he wanted to simulate an entire viola section. As with many of his paintings, he never quite got around to finishing the final product before he died in 1519; 56 years later, Hans Hayden (1536-1613) built what he called the Geigenwerk, which, translated from German, means “violin works.” It borrowed heavily from da Vinci’s concepts, but Hayden’s instrument was more similar to the hurdy-gurdy than Leonardo’s. A hundred years after the death of Leonardo, Michael Praetorius stated in his Syntagma Musicum that such an instrument was a useful contribution to the musical world.
A Polish Enterprise
Before Polish keyboard virtuoso Slawomir Zubrzycki built his current viola organista, the only one extant was Truchado’s “violincémbalo,” or bowed harpsichord, which was built in 1625 and is now in a Brussels museum. Zubrzycki’s masterpiece is stunning to behold. It has a midnight-blue outer body, and its interior is the color of raspberry jam. There, embossed in exquisite gold leaf, it says, “Holy prophets and scholars immersed in the sea of arts both human and divine, dreamed up a multitude of instruments to delight the soul.” Like Bach’s harpsichords of the early 18th century, Zubrzycki’s viola organista has a five-octave range. The instrument’s 61 strings gleam against an interior fashioned of golden spruce.
From: Pianostreet
湯 先生/ Mr. Tong
英國註冊鋼琴技師 / Registered Piano Technician (MPTA)
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