Leonardo Da Vinci was talented at a lot of stuff: art (The Mona Lisa), engineering (he more-or-less conceived the helicopter), and pop culture (he has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle named after him. Awesome). More than 450 years after Da Vinci's heyday, we see another one of his brilliant skills/ideas put in motion for music: the "viola organista."
The design for the new instrument came from the Codex Atlanticus, 12 volume collection of sketches and notes that Da Vinci apparently composed to remind people in the 20th Century how excellent he was at life. Polish concert pianist Slawomir Zubrzycki saw the designs for the organista, figured he at least had the musical and engineering skills to build it, and spent three years (5,000 hours) building it.
Zubrzycki classified the instrument as a hybrid of the harpsichord, organ and viola da gamba-three instruments big during Da Vinci's day. It looks like a grand piano from the outside, but inside it contains four wheels roped with horse hair. When the pedals of the instrument are pushed down, the, wheels spin and bow the lines over the steel strings attached to the keys, essentially producing four violas worth of music.
Sure, right now it doesn't sound as fluid as the Takács Quartet, but give a talented musician a lifetime to perfect the instrument-as Zubrzycki has surely had on the piano-and Da Vinci may have just changed the approach to classical music from here on out.
Don't get too worried, string sections. Classical music is, well, classic, and we don't foresee anyone replacing you in concerts anytime soon. Just watch the video below and marvel in Da Vinci's genius.
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