Adagio für Harmonika K. 356

work by Mozart

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July 23, 2026

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The "Adagio für Harmonika" (K. 356) is a musical composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The term "adagio" refers to a slow tempo in music. This particular piece was written for the glass harmonica, an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin. The glass harmonica consists of a set of tuned glass bowls that are sounded by the friction of wetted fingers on their rims. Mozart also wrote another piece for this instrument, the "Adagio und Rondo" K. 617. The "Adagio für Harmonika" K. 356 was performed in 1791.123

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percussion instrument
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…for it, as was his Adagio für Harmonika K 356, both performed in 1791. Efforts to combine it with a keyboard enjoyed only a passing vogue. Among the last to write for it was the French composer Hector Berlioz in his 1830 orchestral fantasia on Shakespeare’s The Tempest; a decade…
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…for it, as was his Adagio für Harmonika K 356, both performed in 1791. Efforts to combine it with a keyboard enjoyed only a passing vogue. Among the last to write for it was the French composer Hector Berlioz in his 1830 orchestral fantasia on Shakespeare’s The Tempest; a decade…
Read More