On February 18, 1762, at Spring Gardens in England, a 19-year-old musician named Marianne Davies gave a concert that introduced the world to a brand new, fascinating musical instrument: a row of delicate tuned glass bowls in a beautifully-finished wooden chest, mounted horizontally on a long spindle, called a glass armonica. As she came from a musical family, Miss Davies herself was already somewhat well known around London’s musical circles. Her father was a composer and flautist, and she and her sister had been performing – both singing and playing instruments – since childhood. But this particular concert was news:...