The Pelzman Glockenspiel

*Location:

   near southeast pedestrian entrance
   The National Zoo
   Connecticut Avenue, NW
   Washington, D.C., USA
   LL: N 38.92758, W 77.04555

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   (none)

   1976-?? Frank P. Law   (d.)
   19??-?? Nancy VanDerveer
   198x-9x Michele E. Prokopchak   (A)

*Contact:

   Public Affairs Office
   Smithsonian National Zoological Park
   3001 Connecticut Avenue, NW
   Washington, DC  20008-2537
   T: 202-673-4789
   E: nationalzoo@si.edu

*Schedule:

   None--carillon is unusable and
   glockenspiel is inoperable
   (since 2003 or earlier).

*Remarks:

   Tower includes four moving figures of
   animals; it has been relocated on the
   zoo grounds at least once.

   F, diam?, 253#, 1976, P&F

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 35 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F  in the treble octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C G   
   Transposition is up 17 semitone(s), i.e., from C to F 
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The whole instrument was installed in 1976
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E     
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                  2 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:    5 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:   6 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  99%
   Year of latest technical information source is 1991

The Zoo Website has no information on this instrument (since Oct.2006 or earlier), though it can be spotted on the downloadable PDF map.

The history of the National Zoo glockenspiel [23 Jan 2022]

Short history page, with links and one photo

The Washington Post (DC) 17 Mar 1995

Upon its original installation in 1976, the Pelzman Glockenspiel was widely publicized in newspapers across America.  One example

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by weight.
Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by year of completion.

Other medium carillons with similar keyboard ranges.

Index to all glockenspiels in the world.

Index to all traditional carillons in DC.

Index to all tower bell instruments in DC.

   This page was built from the database on 29-Dec-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/12/22
   and on technical data last updated on 1995/03/28