Cylinder Music Box with automatons and drums PAILLARD - Switzerland - circa 1880
This musical piece from the end of the 19th Century has, for outward appearance, two percussion players added to it. Here is a way of renewing the traditional sound of "keyboards" composed of metal strips. The miniature drum, the castanets and more particularly the fixed bells struck by two moving Chinese figures in the exotic taste of that time produce a more orchestral type of music which is rich in effect.

MàJ - 23/01/1999