Parsifal bell
Encyclopedia
A Parsifal bell is a stringed musical instrument
designed as a substitute for the church bells
that are called for in the score of Richard Wagner
's opera Parsifal
.
The instrument was designed by Felix Mottl
, a conductor of Wagner
's works, and constructed by Schweisgut, of Karlsruhe
, Germany
.
.
The hammers are attached to arms 22 inches long, which are screwed to a strong wooden span bridge placed horizontally above the strings at about two-fifths of the length from the front. On the point of the arm is the name of the note, and behind this the felt ledge struck by the fist. Two belly bridges and two wrest-plank bridges, one set for each octave, determine the vibrating length of the strings, and the belly bridge, as in other stringed instruments, is the medium through which the vibrations of the strings are communicated to the soundboard
. The arrangement of pegs and wrest-pins is much the same as on the piano.
s. Well-known examples include 1812 Overture
, The Golden Legend, Cavalleria Rusticana
, Pagliacci
, Rienzi
, and Parsifal
. The most serious difficulty of all arose in Parsifal, where the bells are called for in an extremely solemn scene with deep religious significance. If real church bells were used for the notes Wagner wrote, they would overpower the orchestra and ruin the solemn atmosphere on the stage.
A stringed instrument, similar to the Parsifal bell but having only four notes, was used at Bayreuth for the first performance of Parsifal in 1882, where it was combined with tam-tams or gong
s in an attempt to replicate the sound of a church bell
. The instrument was built by the Bayreuth-based pianoforte manufacturer Steingraeber & Söhne
. After many trials the following combination was adopted as the best makeshift: (1) the stringed instrument with four keys; (2) four tam-tams or gong
s tuned to the pitch of the four notes composing the chime; (3) a tuba
, which plays the notes staccato in quavers to help make them more distinct; (4) a fifth tam-tam, on which a roll is executed with a drumstick.
s are used when a bell sound is called for. In another special case, a special peal of hemispherical bells was constructed for use in performances of Sir Arthur Sullivan
's cantata
, The Golden Legend. Struck with mallets, they produced both tap and hum tone. But Parsifal presented a particular problem because the lowest of the Golden Legend bells was a minor tenth higher than the lowest note required for Parsifal, and the aggregate weight of the four bells was thousands of pounds.
Modern productions of Parsifal typically use a synthesized, or electronically recorded, church bell
sound.
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
designed as a substitute for the church bells
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
that are called for in the score of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
.
The instrument was designed by Felix Mottl
Felix Mottl
Felix Josef von Mottl was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which Agnes Bernauer was the most successful, as well as a string quartet and numerous songs and other music...
, a conductor of Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's works, and constructed by Schweisgut, of Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Construction
It is constructed on the principle of the grand piano. A massive frame is shaped like a billiard table. The instrument has five notes; each note has six strings (three are tuned to the fundamental pitch, and three an octave higher). The strings are struck by large hammers, covered with cotton-wool, which the performer sets in motion by a strong elastic blow from his fist, similar to the motion of playing a carillonCarillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
.
The hammers are attached to arms 22 inches long, which are screwed to a strong wooden span bridge placed horizontally above the strings at about two-fifths of the length from the front. On the point of the arm is the name of the note, and behind this the felt ledge struck by the fist. Two belly bridges and two wrest-plank bridges, one set for each octave, determine the vibrating length of the strings, and the belly bridge, as in other stringed instruments, is the medium through which the vibrations of the strings are communicated to the soundboard
Sounding board
A sound board, or soundboard, is the surface of a string instrument that the strings vibrate against, usually via some sort of bridge. The resonant properties of the sound board and the interior of the instrument greatly increase loudness over the string alone.The sound board operates by the...
. The arrangement of pegs and wrest-pins is much the same as on the piano.
Need
Difficulties arise whenever a composer writes a piece for orchestra in which he calls for reproducing the effect of church bellChurch bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
s. Well-known examples include 1812 Overture
1812 Overture
The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E flat major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture or the Overture of 1812 is an overture written by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of...
, The Golden Legend, Cavalleria Rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
, Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
, Rienzi
Rienzi
Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name . The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi...
, and Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
. The most serious difficulty of all arose in Parsifal, where the bells are called for in an extremely solemn scene with deep religious significance. If real church bells were used for the notes Wagner wrote, they would overpower the orchestra and ruin the solemn atmosphere on the stage.
Earlier Wagnerian church bell substitutes
Various substitutes for bells were tried in vain, but no other instrument gave a tone similar to that of church bells. This is because a bell sound consists of rich harmonics composing the clang, plus two distinct simultaneous notes, first the tap tone, which gives the pitch, and the hum tone or lower accompanying note. The dignity and beauty of the bell tone depend on the interval separating the hum from the tap tone.A stringed instrument, similar to the Parsifal bell but having only four notes, was used at Bayreuth for the first performance of Parsifal in 1882, where it was combined with tam-tams or gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s in an attempt to replicate the sound of a church bell
Church bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
. The instrument was built by the Bayreuth-based pianoforte manufacturer Steingraeber & Söhne
Steingraeber & Söhne
Steingraeber & Söhne was founded in 1820 in Thuringia and since 1852 it has made Bayreuth its home becoming in just three decades one of the best known manufacturers of grand and upright pianos....
. After many trials the following combination was adopted as the best makeshift: (1) the stringed instrument with four keys; (2) four tam-tams or gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s tuned to the pitch of the four notes composing the chime; (3) a tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, which plays the notes staccato in quavers to help make them more distinct; (4) a fifth tam-tam, on which a roll is executed with a drumstick.
Modern church bell substitutes
In most orchestral music, tubular bellTubular bell
Tubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
s are used when a bell sound is called for. In another special case, a special peal of hemispherical bells was constructed for use in performances of Sir Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, The Golden Legend. Struck with mallets, they produced both tap and hum tone. But Parsifal presented a particular problem because the lowest of the Golden Legend bells was a minor tenth higher than the lowest note required for Parsifal, and the aggregate weight of the four bells was thousands of pounds.
Modern productions of Parsifal typically use a synthesized, or electronically recorded, church bell
Church bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
sound.
External links
- Parsifal bell article at the Parsifal Home Page