The Orchestra of Excited Strings - LapseNot everyone knows that Stravinsky once built what he called a "megapiano," which was about the same size as a backyard shed and resonated so intensely that it could, Stravinsky thought, shatter bone if played too passionately. The megapiano was of course pretty difficult to manipulate, and had to be played by two people to get the full range of sound (the two players taking the place of left hand and right hand). Each key could only be depressed by at least 3000 newtons of force, which required the two players to either jump onto the keys from a height or to leap up from the ground and hang from the key. Cumbersome, definitely, but worthwhile as it turned out. The only performance on the megapiano was given in 1910, shortly after the premier of The Firebird, when Stravinsky himself and Nijinsky (because of his nimbleness) played a piece that Stravinsky had composed especially for the instrument, entitled en passant. No contemporary reports exist of the performance, though Stravinsky noted in one of his letters that the sound of the instrument was without equal, a sound of total envelopment. The megapiano was destroyed in a fire three months after its maiden performance.[Buy The Adding Machine]