The Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina was one of the most amazing of all music machines. Its intricate mechanisms reproduce the music of three violins and piano, with near-human expression. The violins are played by 49 mechanical fingers and a rotating circular bow with 1,344 individually-tied strands of  horsehair. Mechanisms cause the bow speed and pressure to change automatically, as controlled by perforations in the paper music roll, to provide a wide dynamic range, crescendo and decrescendo, accent, and other musical nuances.

(via Mechanical Music Press)

update: and they sounded like this.