The musical organ played by the Sea in Zadar, Croatia.
3 min read
There is a place, in the Adriatic sea, where you can really listen to singing the Sea, thanks to a work of art and architecture of extraordinary and unique beauty in the world. This incredible experimental musical instrument, at all hours of the day and night, emits a melodious sound thanks to the strength and harmony of the waves.
The Sea Organ (in original language morske orgulje) is located on the shores of Zadar, Croatia, and is the world’s first musical pipe organs that is played by the sea. It’s made with simple steps, build with white stone on the quayside. Underneath, there are 35 musically tuned tubes with whistle openings on the sidewalk. The movement and the waves of the sea pushes air through, and according to the size and velocity of the wave, musical chords are played. It’s nice because the waves create a random and harmonic sounds. Each musical organ pipe is blown by a column of air, pushed in turn by a column of wave-moved water, through a plastic tube immersed into the water. The pipes’ musically tuned sounds emanate to the surroundings through apertures in the vertical planes. The citizens of Zadar are extremely proud of the first natural musical organ driven by the sea waves ever to be constructed, and this installation is absolutely unique in the world.
This unique piece of acoustics and architecture, seventy meters long, was created by architect Nikola Basic in 2005, who recently received the European Prize for Urban Public Space for this project. Every years thousands of tourists come to listen to this unique organ, while enjoy unforgettable sunsets with a view of nearby islands. Also the famous director Alfred Hitchcock said that the most beautiful sunset in the world can be seen from this spot on the Zadar quay. Precise words that he told for described this, after his visit to Zadar, a trip he remembered throughout his life by the meeting of the show between the sinking sun and the sea.
Thanks to the Sea Organ music project, the inhabitants of Zadar can return to love the sea, after chaotic reconstruction work undertaken in an attempt to repair the devastation that Zadar suffered during the World War II, which turned most of the sea front into an unbroken, sad and solid wall. Now, the white marble steps lead down to the sea, and under these, there is the system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity that turns all the site into a huge musical instrument, played only by the wind and the sea.
