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 gongs 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: the stringed instrument with four keys; four tam-tams or gongs tuned to the pitch of the four notes composing the chime; a tuba, which plays the notes staccato in quavers to help make them more distinct; a fifth tam-tam, on which a roll is executed with a drumstick. Modern church bell substitutes In most orchestral music, tubular bells 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. Notes References External links Parsifal bell article at the Parsifal Home Page Opera terminology String instruments Bells (percussion) European percussion instruments German musical instruments Parsifal 19th-century percussion instruments