anvil

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anvil. Perc. instr., imitating real anvil, used in many works, usually operas. In Das Rheingold Wagner uses 18 in 3 sizes to depict the activity in Nibelheim. In Siegfried Act I, Siegfried splits an anvil with the sword Nothung. Real anvils are used in Il trovatore (Verdi), Benvenuto Cellini (Berlioz), Mahler's 6th sym., Bax's 3rd sym., Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, and Britten's The Burning Fiery Furnace.

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