A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Glockenspiel

by J. A. Fuller-Maitland

GLOCKENSPIEL, a name applied to any instrument by means of which a series of bells can be struck by a single performer, and the effect of a chime be produced with little trouble. In Germany the term includes both the smaller kinds of Carillons, and a stop on the organ which brings a set of small bells into connection with the keyboard. The istromento d'acciajo which appears in the score of the 'Zauberflöte,' is such a set or frame of bells played by means of a keyboard, and represents in the orchestra the Glockenspiel played by Papageno on the stage. The instrument used in German military bands is composed of inverted metal cups arranged pyramidally on a support that can be held in the hand. It is somewhat similar in shape to the 'Turkish crescent' formerly used in the British army. (See vol. ii. p. 20b). It is this form of the instrument which has been introduced by Wagner into the orchestra; its effective employment in the 'Feuerzauber' in 'Die Walküre' is a familiar instance of its occurrence. The peal of four large bells, cast for the performance of Sir Arthur Sullivan's 'Golden Legend' is arranged for convenience in a somewhat similar form.

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