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During several journeys undertaken with my Euphon The Euphon was an instrument invented by Chladni in 1789 consisting of glass rods rubbed with wet fingers, as well as during occasional stays in Wittenberg, I constantly endeavored to conduct and publish various new acoustic investigations. These were sometimes quite laborious; for example, a full three months were required just to conduct and organize the observations contained in my treatise on longitudinal vibrations original: "Longitudinalschwingungen", which consists of only two sheets of paper.

A primary ambition of mine was to invent a keyboard instrument on which one could sustain any tone at will and allow it to increase or decrease in volume through more or less pressure. The Clavier (or clavichord), the pianoforte, the harpsichord, or indeed all instruments where the sound is produced not by friction but by striking, absolutely lack this quality. Consequently, slurs, syncopated notes, and long sustained passages—where the tones should increase in strength after the initial attack or continue with equal strength—cannot be properly performed on them. They belong, therefore (as Horstig correctly remarked in the Musical Gazette 1799, no. 24), not among the "singing instruments," but among the "percussive instruments" (or perhaps even more fittingly: "tinkling instruments").

On the organ, one can indeed sustain the tones, but one cannot make each individual tone increase or decrease in volume at will.

I wished, therefore, to produce a keyboard instrument where one would have the duration and the swelling or fading of every tone under one's control, just as with all string and wind instruments (on which, however, one cannot have full harmony unless several are played together).

A bowed-clavier original: "Bogenflügel," a keyboard instrument where strings were vibrated by a continuous mechanical bow does indeed possess this quality, but I did not wish to build one, because this had already been done by others, and because it is impossible to design such an instrument to be so small and compact compendiös: small enough to be easily portable that I could have conveniently taken it with me in my carriage on travels. Furthermore, I required that it should stay in tune and be as simple as possible, so that in the future it might become more widely used.

On a sea voyage from Reval modern-day Tallinn, Estonia to Flensburg in the year 1794, I shortened the boredom caused by contrary winds by reflecting further on the matter and sketching ideas for mechanical arrangements of this kind in my tablet. When I returned to Wittenberg, I conducted experiments which gave me some instruction; however, the matter was not yet ripe for execution. Finally, in May 1799, I discovered several more things necessary for this purpose, and in January 1800, I completed an instrument which, with a pleasant—