Editing Parsifal (section)

===Instrumentation===
The score for ''Parsifal'' calls for three [[flute]]s, three [[oboe]]s, one [[cor anglais|English horn]], three [[clarinet]]s in B-flat and A, one [[bass clarinet]] in B-flat and A, three [[bassoon]]s, one [[contrabassoon]]; four [[French horn|horns]] in F, three [[trumpet]]s in F, three [[trombone]]s, one [[tuba]], 6 onstage trumpets in F, 6 onstage trombones; a percussion section that includes four [[timpani]] (requiring two players), [[tenor drum]]s, 4 onstage [[church bell]]s, one onstage [[thunder machine (instrument)|thunder machine]]; two [[harp]]s and [[string section|strings]]. ''Parsifal'' is one of only two works by Wagner in which he used the [[contrabassoon]]. (The other is the ''Symphony in C''.)

The bells that draw the knights to the Grail ceremony at Monsalvat in acts 1 and 3 have often proved problematic to stage. For the earlier performances of ''Parsifal'' in Bayreuth, Wagner had the [[Parsifal bell]], a piano frame with four strings, constructed as a substitute for church bells. For the first performances, the bells were combined with [[gong|tam-tam]] and gongs. However, the bell was used with the tuba, four tam-tams tuned to the pitch of the four chime notes and another tam-tam on which a roll is executed by using a drumstick. In modern-day performances, the Parsifal bell has been replaced with [[tubular bells]] or [[synthesizer]]s to produce the desired notes. The thunder machine is used in the moment of the destruction of Klingsor's castle.