Pyrophone

The pyrophone was a musical instrument in which flames encased in pipes similar to those of a traditional organ were used to produce musical notes. Kaster took advantage of Dr B Higgins’ 1777 discovery that a hydrogen flame positioned at the lower end of glass tube could produce a note and combined this with his musical knowledge (his father was the composer Georges Kastner) in order to produce a “Fire Organ”, as the instrument was also known.

It was back in the 1870s that physicist and musician, Georges Frédéric Eugène Kastner, invented the pyrophone, after picking up on an earlier discovery about the behavior of hydrogen flames when applied to glass tubes.

Despite his own fascination, Cavatorta doesn’t expect the instrument to enjoy widespread popularity anytime soon. “While pyrophones would make a beautiful accompaniment for pipe organs,” he says, “I understand why we don’t use them. They’re terrifying! Like a lovely, controlled explosion contained in a bundle of glass tubing.”