During my initial visit to the Special Collections Library, I examined two letters written by Percy Grainger. One was sent to Arthur Fickenscher and the other to Mr. Schwab. The first letter, dated October 28, 1932, reflects Grainger’s admiration for Fickenscher’s experimental and innovative work on the Polytone. In the letter, Grainger commended the instrument’s intonation and its versatile use of intervals, highlighting its unique combination of “emotional expression and scientific accuracy” (Grainger, 1932). He further emphasized its significance by stating that every university should have access to this instrument. The second letter, dated November 26, 1932, was addressed to Schwab. In this correspondence, Grainger expressed his appreciation for Fickenscher’s composition, The Seventh Quintet. Additionally, he inquired about the possibility of performing together in an upcoming concert (Grainger, 1932).

Questions such as the fundamental nature of the Polytone and the origins of Arthur Fickenscher’s inspiration for his invention arose during my research. Consequently, during my second visit to the Special Collections Library, I focused on sources that documented Fickenscher’s rationale behind the development of Polytone as well as the advancements he pursued to expand its influence within the realm of music education.

By examining biographical data of Fickenscher’s professional and personal life, I discovered that he was driven by a desire for more refined and harmonious sounds in his compositions, so he spent years exploring pure intonation. Early in his experiments, he recognized that achieving finer pitch divisions required a foundation rooted in the natural and scientific principles of the overtone system (Arthur Fickenscher Papers, n.d.). This understanding led to the invention of the 60-tone keyboard, the Polytone, which he patented in Germany in 1912. The first Polytone was preserved at the University of Virginia when Fickenscher began his teaching career there.

During my second visit, I also examined a collection of letters exchanged between Arthur Fickenscher and Frank Hitchcock from 1939 to 1948. In the earliest letter, Hitchcock mentioned a man later identified as Mr. Langer, who claimed to have discovered a new method for modifying sound quality by connecting a neon tube to a loudspeaker—a technique he argued was more practical than using an organ pipe (Frank Hitchcock, 1939). Fickenscher responded by acknowledging the limitations of the Polytone, noting that it lacked sufficient amplification and was too heavy to transport, which significantly restricted his ability to present lectures and demonstrations. This response highlights the challenges of designing new instruments for music education, particularly the need to balance innovation with practicality. The Polytone’s lack of sufficient amplification made it ineffective for demonstrations, emphasizing how new instruments must be functional and capable of meeting the demands of an educational setting. Additionally, its heavy weight restricted portability, revealing how logistical concerns like transport and setup can limit an instrument’s accessibility and usefulness. This underscores a broader issue in instrument design, while new technologies may introduce novel features, they must also be user-friendly and adaptable to real-world teaching environments. In response, Hitchcock contacted Mr. Langer on Fickenscher’s behalf and facilitated further collaboration. Motivated to refine his invention, Fickenscher began working on improvements to the Polytone in 1940 as soon as he received the neon tubes from Mr. Langer.

The invention of the Polytone happened at a time when composers and theorists were challenging the limitations of equal temperament and exploring new tuning possibilities. Fickenscher’s interest in pure intonation connects him to a larger group of musicians who sought to expand beyond the traditional 12-tone system. One of the most well-known figures in this movement was Harry Partch, who also rejected equal temperament and developed his own tuning system based on just intonation. According to Gann (n.d.), Partch wanted to create music that followed the natural harmonic series, instead of the standard 12-tone system. His system used more than 12 notes per octave, which allowed him to make harmonies that sounded more natural and expressive.

Partch also worked on new ways to perform microtonal music through changing both instruments and performance techniques to fit his tuning system. Gann (n.d.) explains that Partch wanted to adjust music-making to match his tuning ideas. Similarly, Fickenscher’s Polytone was a tool that helped musicians explore microtonality in a practical way, making it easier for them to play and understand these tunings.

Fickenscher’s Polytone was not just an invention. It led to exploration of new ways to create and organize sound. Many composers at that time were questioning traditional tuning systems, looking for different approaches to harmony that could offer more freedom in composition. Modernist music was about breaking old rules and discovering new possibilities. In this way, I think Polytone should fit into the modernist search for musical innovation, as it allows musicians to experiment with microtonality in a structured way.

One of the key ideas in musical modernism was progress—the belief that music should always move forward and develop beyond its past limitations (Perchard et al., 2022). Composers were no longer satisfied with equal temperament, which has always been the foundation of Western music for centuries. Instead, they explored alternative tuning systems, new forms of musical structure, and even different ways of playing instruments. Polytone is a good example of this mindset, as it provided a way for musicians to work with more than 12 pitches per octave, allowing for more expressive and complex harmonies.

At the same time, there was a strong idea of Zukunftsmusik— “music of the future”, which encouraged composers to think ahead and create new musical languages (Perchard et al., 2022). Fickenscher created Polytone to help musicians explore new tonal systems. His invention was not just a personal experiment but was part of a broader effort to shape the future of music by expanding the tools available to composers and performers.

Through my archival research at UVA’s Special Collections Library, I was able to think about how universities serve as sites of both tradition and experimentation. Modernist music was often about breaking away from the past, and yet Fickenscher’s work was preserved here, showing that UVA has also been a place where new musical ideas could emerge and be studied. Even though the Polytone is not widely known today, its presence in UVA’s archives highlights the university’s role in fostering intellectual and artistic innovation, even in fields that may not have been its primary focus. Through this research, I was able to connect Fickenscher’s work with the broader themes of musical modernism, microtonal composition, and technological innovation, but I also gained a deeper appreciation for how historical objects like the Polytone are embedded in specific institutions. This project allowed me to not only study the past but also reflect on how UVA’s musical history continues to shape the academic and creative work happening today.

Bibliography

Arthur Fickénscher Papers, Accession 12731, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Gann, K. (n.d.). Experimentalism. In American Music in the Twentieth Century (pp. 76–101). Schirmer Books.

Grainger, P. (1932, October 28). Letter to Arthur Fickenscher. [Manuscript]. Correspondence. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, Charlottesville, VA.

Grainger, P. (1932, November 26). Letter to Mr. Schwab. [Manuscript]. Correspondence. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, Charlottesville, VA.

Hitchcock, F. (1939, October 18). Letter to Arthur Fickenscher. [Manuscript]. Correspondence. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, Charlottesville, VA.

Perchard, T., Graham, S., Rutherford-Johnson, T., & Rogers, H. (2022). Modernism. In Twentieth-Century Music in the West: An Introduction (pp. 46–76). chapter, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.