Glockenspiel

What it means

The orchestral glockenspiel is a tuned-bar instrument: metal plates arranged in two rows like a keyboard lie on a frame and are struck with hard mallets. The sound is bright, shining, and rich in overtones, with a long decay. It is notated in the treble clef but sounds two octaves higher than written; the score usually notes this. There are also forms of construction with a keyboard as well as the lyre glockenspiel of marching music, which is carried upright. It differs fundamentally from the carillon in the church tower in size, construction, and sounding body.

Musical use

As a colour the glockenspiel sets points of light: it doubles melodies in a high register, highlights individual notes, and gives the orchestral sound lustre. Because its sound is so penetrating, a few notes suffice; densely set chords blur because of the long decay. Since the nineteenth century it has belonged to the fixed instrumentation and is met in opera, where it often accompanies magical or cheerful scenes, as well as in symphonic and wind music. It differs from the xylophone in the material of the plates and thus in tone colour: metal instead of wood, bright and ringing instead of dry and woody.

Performance practice

Choose the mallets deliberately: brass gives the sharpest sound, plastic and wood milder colours, soft mallets take the brilliance from the instrument. Hit the plate near the middle but not on the suspension points, and let the mallet rebound instead of leaving it lying. The decay can hardly be damped; therefore plan rests and play rather transparently in fast passages. Watch the sounding octave in ensemble playing to place doublings correctly. Adjust the height of the frame so that the forearms stay loose, and protect the plates from scratches.

Bear in mind that the glockenspiel easily seems too loud because of its penetration: in the orchestra always play more restrainedly than the dynamic marking suggests, and check the effect from the hall. Take care that the plates rest freely and nothing rings along. For fast passages it is worthwhile to fix the mallet guidance and practise the paths, because the plates are narrow. On models with a keyboard the sound is more muted; settle beforehand which instrument the score calls for.