Sea Organ, Zadar (must see)

There is a "wave" organ in San Francisco. There is also a "high tide" organ in Blackpool. The Sea Organ of Zadar is more musical. It plays tunes. The Organ is a creation of architect Nikola Basic. His design was part of the rejuvenation of Nova Riva (the "New Coast"). Nikola won the European Prize for Urban Public Space in 2005.

White marble steps on the Promenade, descending in staggered flights to the water's edge, hide and protect a system of polyethylene tubes in a resonating chamber. Waves hitting the 35 musically tuned tubes make ad hoc sorts of melodies, sounding vaguely like the works of Philip Glass. The notes are random and harmonic.

The sounds emitted from the pipes are created by a column of air pushed by wave-propelled water. The air is forced through slots in the risers of the topmost steps. The seven groups of musical tubes are tuned to cognate chords of the diatonic major scale (without chromatic alteration). The random musical effect depends on the wave energy in each pipe.

The "da capo" (repeat from the beginning) four-voice male singing conforming to the diatonic major scale is traditional in this area of Croatia. The five pipes in each of the seven sections are arranged, so a listener can hear them play their natural music. The pipe sections are tuned to one chord. The music is played where medieval Zadar meets the Adriatic.

The famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock said once that the most beautiful sunset in the world can be seen from the Zadar quay on this particular spot. He did not hear the music of Zadar then. Now one can listen to it as the sun sets over the sea.