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  • Is a campanelli the same instruments as a glockenspiel?

Although a literal translation of campanelli (It.) is something like "little bells", I thought that campanelli in an instrumentaion setting simply meant "glockenspiel" AKA "orchestral bells", i.e. the series of metallophone bars in a keyboard layout with a standard range written as G3 – C6 (2½ octaves) and sounding two octaves higher (as given in a variety of orchestration manuals).

However, it appears that it isn't always that simple.

I'm looking at a full score of Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird (a ballet).
In the percussion section there is a part for an instrument with the name campanelli (It.) / Колокольчики (Rus.).

At rehearsal mark 98 (about halfway through the piece) a section begins that is called: Magic Carillon, ... (Eng.) / Carillon Féerique, ... (Fr.) / Волшебные Перезвоны ... (Rus.).
The campanelli enters with the instruction sur la scêne, playing the notes E♭3 & G3 written in bass clef:

music staff showing an instrument name abbreviated as "C-lli" (with "sur la scêne" written above the staff), bass clef with a tremolo chord on the notes E-flat and G

This is followed by a few measures of rest, then changes to treble clef and plays a much more prominent solo-like part (in the range G♯5 – D♯6):

music staff showing an instrument name abbreviated as "C-lli", treble clef two bars of rest, then a passage of notes on above the stave

Later in the piece the campanelli has notes as low as B♯4, and as high as F♯6.

The low E♭3, and high F♯6 are beyond the range of a standard glockenspiel.

  • What instrument is meant by campanelli in this score?
  • And what range does it have? Is there an instrument that could play all the notes from written E♭3 – F♯6?

The above is as given in a physical copy of the score that I have, and a 1964 edition I found on IMSLP.

However, in the 1st edition (also found on IMSLP) this instrument's name is given as campanelli for the bass clef part only; a different staff with the instrument name glockenspiel is used for the treble passage. This suggest that different instruments are being used. But interestingly, the instrument list at the start of the document has campanelli only (glockenspiel is not mentioned).

Upon further investigation, IMSLP also provides a copy of the percussion part as a seperate document:

percussion part showing campanelli and glockenspiel separately

This document makes it quite clear that the campanelli and glockenspiel are considered to be different.

  • How are these instruments different?

Watching and listening to some performances (of the ballet Mariinsky Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet; and of orchestral renditions Vienna Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra) reveals that the notation for both the treble and bass clef parts are written just 1 octave (rather than 2) below their sounding pitch.

This makes sense of the treble passage, but means the bass clef notes are very low indeed, with the low E♭'s over an octave below the range of a standard glockenspiel.

  • What bell-like instrument can play notes this low?

I don't really understand the sur la scêne (on the stage) instruction. At first I thought it meant that the campanellli would be part of the scene in the ballet; that one of the dancers would be seen to be playing it or something similar. This apparently isn't the case — at least in either of the performances above. The instrument does though play a role in the narrative of the first performance — acting as alarm bells for the palace.

  • What exactly does sur la scêne mean in this context?
Elements in Space
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  • I don't suppose some of these are tubular bells? – Andy Bonner Feb 10 '23 at 16:22
  • I assume we're talking about the 1910 version here (I don't have a copy of the various other versions).I think that sur la scêne means at stage level (rather than orchestra pit) but hidden behind the scenery. – Peter Feb 13 '23 at 12:51
  • @Peter It's the full ballet version (first two files in the IMSLP link) not the suite. – Elements in Space Feb 13 '23 at 12:55
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    @ElementsinSpace Thanks. At figure 98 there are also 3 trumpets marked "sur la scêne" and "derrière la 1re coulisse" which I take to mean "behind the first wing" in a traditional proscenium theatre. – Peter Feb 13 '23 at 13:08
  • @Peter That makes sense too. You can see those three trumpeters in the WDR Symph. video in box seating. To get the full effect I think I'd need to experience it live. – Elements in Space Feb 13 '23 at 13:34
  • Have you considered that *campanelli* may indicate *campanelli a tastièra,* a [keyboard glockenspiel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_glockenspiel)? – DjinTonic Feb 13 '23 at 14:54
  • @DjinTonic I'm not familiar with the keyboard glockenspiel — what range does it have? I think it would be unlikely as there's a different part for the celesta, which seems to a similar kind of instrument. – Elements in Space Feb 13 '23 at 15:34
  • @ElementsinSpace ["The keyboard glockenspiel, with its 3.5 octaves (c2-g5), also has a much smaller range and is therefore smaller."](https://www.celesta-schiedmayer.de/en/glockenspiels/keyboard-glockenspiel/) See that manufacturer's page for pictures, differences, and sound samples. However, listening to online snippets, perhaps just small hand-held bells(?) – DjinTonic Feb 13 '23 at 23:02
  • @ElementsinSpace RE your comment about the trumpeters, there are also some on-stage (I assume Wagner) tubas at figure 105. The part's only 13 bars long. Diagilev's backers had deep pockets. – Peter Feb 14 '23 at 17:47
  • @Peter Ah yes (I didn't notice them before). The score indicates *Dans la coulisse* "behind the scenes", and calls them tenor tuba (B-flat) and bass tuba (F). I'm pretty sure regular B-flat euphoniums and regular F tubas are what we see in the WDR video because they don't have the characteristic Wagner tuba shape. But, in the score their parts are transposed like a Wagner tuba parts would be. So I do think Stravinsky probably meant for Wagner tubas to be used, and I think they would give a nicer sound for this (albeit cameo) part. – Elements in Space Feb 14 '23 at 18:57
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    @ElementsinSpace I think (without any evidence to hand) you're right about the Wagner tubas. Transposition isn't always much of a clue given the total confusion about how Wagner tubas should be notated, but if he'd wanted a 'normal' bass tuba he'd probably have notated it in C. – Peter Feb 16 '23 at 11:11
  • @Peter Actually you can see the Wagner tubas in the video given in the answer below, at around the 30 minute mark. – Elements in Space Feb 16 '23 at 12:01
  • @ElementsinSpace So you can. They look like regular tubas to me as well. – Peter Feb 17 '23 at 13:27
  • @Peter You can tell that they are Wagner tubas because of the instrument's characteristic oval shape and curved bells, and by the fact that they are have their left hands on the keys (like french horn). – Elements in Space Feb 17 '23 at 14:52
  • @ElementsinSpace Of course you're right. I was looking at the tubas on the right-hand side of the orchestra. Then I played a bit further on and saw the tubas (not exactly behind the scenery but you can't have everything) which are definitely the Wagner variety. – Peter Feb 18 '23 at 17:09

1 Answers1

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sur la scêne does indeed mean "on the stage". This does not mean that a performance will necessarily follow this instruction.

About the instruments: All editions I’ve seen mark this as "Camp. sur la scéne", which should be "Campane sur la scéne", which in a mixture of italian and french would be "bells on the stage". You can for example see this in this performance:

Italian "campanelli" would be the same as German "Glockenspiel" (and nothing to do with actual bells). And no, this type of instrument does not play that low. But actual bells can go quite low easily, although it is not always easy to define the base pitch of a bell like instrument.

Lazy
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