The orchestral glockenspiel consists of a series of from twenty-seven to thirty-seven graduated bars of steel, chromatically tuned, and mounted and played in similar manner to the xylophone. Its possibilities of execution are the same as the xylophone, but in the absence of any method of damping the tone, passages in too rapid tempo sound confused and are of poor effect. The clear, bell-like tones of this instrument are sparkling in their brilliancy and are of an incisive quality that penetrates the entire orchestra. A noteworthy use of the glockenspiel by a great composer is in the last act of Wagner's "Meistersinger;" also in "Siegfried," and especially in the magic fire scene in "Die Walküre."
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