Carillon News

Bok Tower Festival

The 16th International Carillon Festival, February 3–11, 2001, will feature guest carillonneurs Stéfano Colletti (France), Liesbeth Janssens (Belgium), John Courter (Berea College, Kentucky), George Matthew Jr. (Middlebury College & Norwich University, Vermont), and Bok Tower Gardens' Milford Myhre and William De Turk. Events will include daily recitals at 3 pm, a moonlight recital at 8 pm on Tuesday, February 6, carillon exhibits, and non-carillon concerts. For further information, contact Bill De Turk, 1151 Tower Blvd., Lake Wales, FL 33853-3412; ph 863/676-1154; fax 863/676-6770; e-mail: <[email protected]>;

web page: <boktowergardens.org>.

Paris carillon project

A new carillon for the city of Paris, France, is in the planning stages. The site is the Parc de La Villette. An architectural study has confirmed the possibility of installing a carillon in a contemporary structure that already exists in the park: la Folie Belvédère. The proposal is for a carillon of 51/2 octaves, 66 bells, from G2 to C8, with a total of 35 tons of bronze. The bells would hang on five levels in a conical cage of open construction without a roof. The performer in the playing cabin will be visible to the public.

Situated in the center of the park, the Folie Belvédère seems an ideal place for the resounding of bells, amidst the Cité des Sciences and the Cité de la Musique. There is ample green space for listening at an appropriate distance.  In contrast to the mystery plays that were enacted on church squares in front of cathedrals and churches in the Middle Ages, the Folie and its carillon envision popular theatrical productions such as circus, street theater, and all sorts of musical and artistic expression.

Major Dutch treat

The National Carillon Museum in Asten, The Netherlands, is expanding its facilities. The tower will be an attractive feature. It goes without saying that a carillon will be hung in the tower. Furthermore, this special tower deserves a special carillon. The choice was made for a carillon with bells that have a major-third overtone instead of the traditional minor third. These sound significantly different than classic bells and carillons. This modern type of carillon seemed to be a logical choice for the hpyermodern tower. Hence, with bells from ca. 1500 B.C. to the most contemporary specimens, the museum's collection will span 3500 years of bell history. The design for these major-third bells was developed a few years ago by Drs. André Lehr and Bert Schoofs (Technical University Eindhoven). This design was used for a carillon made by Eijsbouts for the Academy Tower of the University of Groningen. The Asten carillon will be relatively small, with 25 bells covering two octaves. The largest bell will weigh 236 kg., the smallest 10 kg., total weight 468 kg.

The museum is seeking sponsors to cover the cost of the bells which will be purchased at a significant discount from the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in Asten. Contact Dr. André Lehr at [email protected] or Ostaderstraat 23, 5721 WC Asten, The Netherlands.

An American in Peer

When a carillon committee was formed in 1989 in the city of Peer, Belgium, there were three tolling bells in the tower of the St. Trudo Church. At that time there were no carillons in the whole province of North Limburg that were playable manually. The 14th-century brick tower of Peer had a huge bellchamber capable of accommodating a heavy carillon. Financial resources were limited such that a choice was made for a medium weight carillon of 51 bells with a bourdon sounding D.

In 1992 the new Petit & Fritsen instrument was dedicated. After the festivities the carillon committee began its quest to expand the instrument as soon as possible to a heavy carillon. The project was completed in 1999 exceeding all expectations. The 17th-century bell frame was restored, the bell chamber got a new oak floor, and the electrical components were updated.

The carillon was completely dismantled and reinstalled, and a deluxe new playing cabin was built. Thirteen new bells were cast. Most significantly, an American standard playing console was chosen over the current European standard. The instrument now boasts 64 bells covering five octaves with a bourdon sounding B-flat. The keyboard compass is B-flat, C, then chromatic through D. Erik Vandevoort is the carillonneur of Peer.

Miscellanea from abroad

The Olsen Nauen Bellfoundry in Tønsberg, Norway, made a new four-octave carillon for the Oslo Town Hall in December 1999. The 49 bells replace a 38-bell carillon of inferior quality which dated from 1952. The new instrument can be played manually from a traditional baton-type console, electrically by means of an electric keyboard, and automatically by a computer. It is the largest carillon in all of the Nordic countries.

                  There are 80 carillons in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. Of these, 21 are concert carillons operated manually from a baton-type playing console. The remaining 59 are automatic carillons, and 29 of them can be operated from an electric piano-style keyboard. Most of the carillons were fabricated in The Netherlands (27% Petit & Fritsen, 45% Eijsbouts) with a few from France (7% Paccard) and England (4% Taylor).

Sculptor Eric Andersen created the Campana degli Umori for the Fairy Tale Gardens in Odense, Denmark. A ten-ton bell is suspended on a steel frame at street level. Also hanging on this frame are nine clubs or hammers for striking the bell in nine different areas. Campana degli Umori means "the bell of humors"—humors in the sense of moods. The nine striking areas on the bell are color coded and symbolize different moods such as black for pain and sorrow, red for love, etc. Consequently the bell can be used as a means of expression communicating to others the mood of the person who strikes the bell. Eric Andersen, who is both a visual artist and a composer, is fascinated with the bell as the carrier of a new language, and as a musical and poetical instrument the bell can be the tongue of the soul.

The 25th anniversary of the City Hall carillon in Magdeburg, Germany, was celebrated in 1999. In contrast with other concert performances, the carillon usually has the disadvantage that its players have no immediate contact with their listeners. The carillonneur sits in a  tower cabin, high above the ground, often remaining anonymous. Recognizing this situation, the city of Magdeburg rented a four-octave mobile carillon from the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in The Netherlands. Several concerts at various locations in the city were presented. Plentiful audiences comprising both locals and tourists witnessed the carillonneur hard at work (at play).

Zvonar ("The Bell Player") is a new periodical published by the Moscow Bell Center. The Center was established about four years ago primarily to train qualified bell players. Russian church bells are typically played by hand. The art of Russian bell ringing lost popularity because of  church reform measures in the Soviet Union. Bell players who were dying out in the 70s had few new recruits. Since it began, the Moscow Bell Center has educated over 150 bell players between the ages of 11 and 64. Most were from Moscow and its environs. The Zvonar newsletter will help spread information about liturgical tolling, bell repairs, and other technical questions while the Center will serve in consultation to church congregations and monasteries.

A new 45-bell carillon was built for the monastery tower in Kiel, Germany. The bells were cast by the Karlsruhe Bellfoundry, and the playing console, the mechanical action, and the electronic automatic player mechanism were fabricated by Otto Buer Bells & Clocks of Neustadt/Holstein. The carillon was inaugurated in September 1999. It incorporates a 1367-pound tolling bell (pitch "G") that dates from 1928 as the bourdon.

Brian Swager is a contributing editor of THE DIAPASON.

New carillon in West Virginia

Nestled in the southern West Virginia Appalachian mountains, atop the administration building of a small liberal arts college, stands one of the newest additions to the world of carillons. This beautiful 48-bell carillon was cast by Paccard and installed by the Van Bergen Bellfoundry of Charleston, South Carolina. The Marsh Memorial Carillon is the first true carillon in the state of West Virginia. It ranges from a C of 4310 pounds to a 29-pound C. The bells can be played manually or by computer. By way of a fiber-optic cable, the system has recording capabilities from the midi keyboard to the bells. All of these units are located in the climate-controlled playing cabin directly under the bell chamber. In the music building is a unique practice console that uses batons, and rather than xylophone bars it uses an electric device for producing computer-generated sound through speakers. The practice console, like the manual console, is equipped with a two-octave pedalboard that duplicates the lower two octaves of the manual keyboard.

Twenty-three of the bells have the Concord College seal, a decorative band, and various other inscriptions. Of particular interest is the inscription on bell number ten, an A-sharp: "Dedicated to the musicians and carillonneurs who will play this carillon and enrich for the centuries to come the college community with melodious tones and provide inspiration to all who hear these bells."

The Marsh Memorial Carillon is a statement of one of man's joy of life, of giving, and of love for college and community and is the realization of a 40-year dream for Dr. Joseph F. Marsh, Jr., the donor. A resident of Athens and a former President and President's son of Concord College, Dr. Marsh became enamored with bells during his years at Dartmouth and Oxford and planned his tower in the 1960s while serving as President of Concord College. During his Presidency the administration building was renovated and redesigned to accommodate a tower room complete with a slit in the roof for the rods and pads on the floor to support a bell frame. Because Dr. Marsh was unable to raise the funds from private sources to finance the bells, he had privately bequeathed the money to the college so that the carillon could be built after his death. In 1995, however, he decided to donate the funds during his lifetime so that he too could enjoy the carillon. It is truly a magnificent gift to the college, the community, and the state.

The carillon was dedicated on 10 October 1997 with a concert by Robin Austin. His program included original works by Barnes, Byrnes, as well as arrangements and transcriptions by Myhre, Austin, Warner, Dundore, Gerken, Rusterolz, and Lannoy. Attending the dedication were representatives from the French government, the United States Navy, the Paccard Bellfoundry, Concord alumni, and local dignitaries.

In addition to the striking of hourly chimes and a special chime--the Concord Chimes, written by Dr. Marsh--that rings at the close of classes, the bells are programmed to ring daily for fifteen minutes in the early evening.

Concord is located between Princeton, West Virginia, and Pipestem State Resort on Route 20. There is easy access to Athens from Interstate 77.

News from Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Carillonneur Lyle Anderson sends the followong news.

The first set of bells for the University of Wisconsin's Memorial Carillon in Madison was cast by the English firm of Gillett and Johnston late in 1935 and installed in 1936. This was a two-octave span of 25 bells with a bourdon of E-flat (with the then common omission of the two lowest semi-tones, corresponding to C# and D# on the keyboard). G&J often cast numbers on their sets of bells beginning with the highest, so that the smallest bell of this group, an F in pitch, was number one.

As fortune would have it, there was money left over (!) in the carillon fund, so five additional bells were purchased and installed in the tower in early 1937. When the Paccard foundry of France was contracted to next expand the carillon in 1962, the smallest six G&J bells were deemed too delicate of profile to successfully anchor an additional 21 treble bells. So six more Paccard bells replaced these G&J bells (including therefore the original "number one" bell cast in 1935).

When the carillon was next expanded ten years later, the Dutch firm of Royal Eijsbouts won the contract to cast five large bells that would complete the carillon with a bourdon of B-flat. The instrument was reconfigured to play in concert pitch. As part of that installation, Eijsbouts offered to replace all 27 of the Paccard bells for the cost of the metal alone, a deal too good to refuse. Thus no French bells resounded from the carillon after 1973. Like a group of abandoned orphans, the Paccards lost various members and several of them suffered abuse at the hands of a local theatrical company for several years, but eventually 20 of them were put into silent storage for most of the last decade.

On May 29, 1998, Wisconsin celebrated 150 years of statehood. To mark the precise moment at noon of that date, a statewide bell-ringing was planned, initiated by Governor Tommy Thompson on the grounds of the State Capitol in Madison and carried by radio and television throughout the state. Through a mostly coincidental series of connections, the largest of the Paccard treble bells--the "F" that replaced the original G&J number one bell--was brought out of storage and mounted by the carillonneur's father, Gordon Anderson, in a visually striking frame that allowed it to be swung by hand by the governor. Several weeks later the bell was returned to the tower, where it resounds in the lively acoustics of the tower's lower stone chamber and serves as a historically significant "hands-on" introduction to the tower.

--Lyle Anderson

News from Ann Arbor

Margo Halsted sends this news from Ann Arbor.

A chime of 17 bells was installed in the Kerrytown Market and Shops in Ann Arbor, Michigan last September. The chime is the third bell instrument in Ann Arbor, since the nearby central and north campuses of the University of Michigan each have a carillon.

The Kerrytown Chime has an interesting history. During a 1993 vacation in Cork, Ireland, Kerrytown owners Joe and Karen O'Neal ascended the tower of St. Anne's Church and were allowed to perform on the Ellacombe system installed there for the eight tower bells. (Around 1850, the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, an Englishman, devised a system so that one person could play melodies on tower bells that were used at other times as swinging bells.) Next to the Ellacombe apparatus there were pages of melodies written out to correspond to numbers on the ropes. The O'Neals played and then wrote out the numbered melody notes for the University of Michigan Fight Song "The Victors." Later, from the street below, the couple heard someone else playing "The Victors" from the church tower. The O'Neals were surprised and thrilled.

In 1996, Karen and Joe O'Neal discovered some bells for sale in a Brooklyn, Michigan "used bell" shop. They purchased seven bells, planning to acquire one missing bell and install an Ellacombe apparatus in Kerrytown. The bells originally had been installed in the 1920s in the carillon at St. Stephen's Church, Cohasset, Massachusetts (the top octaves of the Gillett & Johnston Cohasset carillon had been replaced in 1989). At that point the O'Neals contacted Margo Halsted, who persuaded them to purchase three more of the Cohasset bells and to order seven additional bells to form a chime to be played from a traditional chimestand.

The Kerrytown Chime, for the most part, is built to the measurements of the Cornell (NY) University Chime, including a pedal note for each manual lever. With a complete pedal range, quite fast and complicated music can be performed. Assisting with the instrument design was Ann Arbor resident Judy Ogden, a former Head Chimemaster at Cornell University, where she played the 19-bell chime for 19 years. In addition, Judy Ogden is a GCNA carillonneur member and an Assistant Carillonist at the University of Michigan. Twice a week she plays 30-minute noonday chime concerts and reports that the action is even and that the bells sound "wonderful."

Kerrytown Market has an open-air market three days a week. In addition to being visually beautiful, the bells also fulfill concert and market-day functions. The chimestand is located at the side of a second-floor hallway in the shopping center, and the public is able to see the chimestand behind glass or watch it being played when a performer is present. Once a practice mechanism is developed, other bell aficionados will have a chance to learn to play the chime.

The seven new bells were cast and the keyboard and mechanism were created and installed by the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry of the Netherlands. There are inscriptions on the seven new bells, and the largest bell has an outside hammer which strikes the hour. The new bells well match the old in finish, shape and timbre. The pitches of the chime are B (of 699 pounds) C, D, E, F, F#, G, A, B-flat, B, C, C#, D, E, F, F#, G.

Visitors are very welcome to visit the three bell instruments of Ann Arbor.

--Margo Halsted

Carillon dedication

A new carillon on the North Campus of the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, will be dedicated during a special ceremony on Thursday, October 19 at 9:00 p.m. During the spring and summer, the instrument is to be installed in the new and modern tower designed by the late architect Charles Moore of Austin, Texas. The dedication ceremony is planned to include music played on the new carillon and music performed by the University of Michigan Symphony Band, by itself and with the carillon. In addition to the music, there will be special tower lighting effects and fireworks.

The Lurie Carillon and Lurie Tower are named after Robert
Lurie and were donated by his widow, Ann, of Chicago. Robert Lurie held two
degrees in engineering from the University of Michigan. Royal Eijsbouts of The
Netherlands cast the 60 bells (bourdon G of six tons) to a modified Hemony
profile. Thirty-eight of the bells will also have MIDI capability. A new
practice keyboard will be installed in a nearby building.

Two works for carillon have been commissioned for the
dedication. The commissions went to University of Michigan composer William
Albright and to Mannheim Steamroller composer and director, Chip Davis, a
graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music. To help celebrate the
event, there is also a carillon composition competition for University of
Michigan student composers with cash prizes. The winning student pieces will be
performed at special concerts following the dedication.

Ronald Barnes honored

Honorary membership in the Guild of Carillonneurs in North
America was conferred on Ronald Barnes at the 1995 Congress in Princeton, New
Jersey. David Hunsberger nominated Mr. Barnes for this honor with the following
tribute.

Born and brought up in Lincoln, Nebraska, Mr. Barnes
believes his parents took him as a young child to hear Anton Brees dedicate the
carillon at First Plymouth Congregational Church. Fifteen years later, he
studied organ with Myron Roberts, the church's organist, who one day asked if
he would consider learning to play the carillon, since Mary Guest, the woman
then playing, planned to move away.

Young Ronald ascended the tower to watch her play, and
remembers that she played melodies only, and only in the bottom two octaves,
grasping the keys chime-style. When he asked her why she did not also use the
higher notes she replied that they didn't work, and sure enough, when he tried
one it would not move. Only a few days later, when he and his older brother
Bryce actually made their way into the bell chamber (in those days a hazardous
climb indeed) did he realize that all those notes had bells attached to them.

The two young men carried twelve bushel baskets full of dead
pigeons, droppings, and other dirt from the tower. They cleaned and lubricated
the playing action, disassembling some of it. When they had finished, Ronald
went up the following Sunday to play. Since he owned no carillon music, he simply played scales up and down the compass. The phone immediately began to ring, with neighborhood people wanting to know when the church had gotten the new bells. So far as he can determine, the last person to have played the small
bells on that carillon had been Anton Brees at the dedicatory recitals a decade
and a half earlier!

At the end of World War II Mr. Barnes served in the US Navy
in Japan during the occupation, on a destroyer tender as a specialist working
with navigational instruments, and later as a helmsman on a destroyer.
Afterwards he used the GI Bill to earn a Master of Arts degree in musicology at
Stanford University, where for his thesis he wrote a study of the carillon
preludes of Matthias van den Gheyn. He attended his first GCNA congress in 1948
at Ann Arbor, where he, Theophil Rusterholz, and Bertram Strickland played
their advancement recitals. Following the Congress he spent the summer in
Ottawa with Robert Donnell, which was to be his only formal study of the
carillon.

In 1951 he accepted an appointment to play the large new
Taylor carillon in Lawrence, Kansas, which he says was the finest in the world
at the time. While on the Kansas University faculty he also taught harpsichord
and cared for the university's instrument collection. In 1963 he again accepted
an appointment to play a brand new Taylor carillon, which he again thought was
the best carillon in the world, this time at the Washington Cathedral.

Finally, in 1982 he returned to California to preside over
the Class of 1928 Carillon at Berkeley. Under his supervision the Berkeley
instrument has been enlarged once and improved several times.

He has been host of three congresses, one at each of his
towers beginning in Kansas in 1956, and will be one of the hosts, along with
his successor, at the 1998 congress in Berkeley. He was President of the Guild
during part of the 1960s, and served for seven years during the 1950s as editor
of the Bulletin.

It was Mr. Barnes' personal encouragement that led several
of our most important composers, among them Roy Hamlin Johnson, John Pozdro,
and Gary White, to develop an interest in the carillon. He has played pivotal
roles in beginning and nurturing the carillon careers of some of our most
distinguished players, including Milford Myhre, Richard Strauss, and Daniel
Robins. He has written provocatively and with penetrating insight several times
for the Bulletin, working to set new standards for quality of performance,
choice of repertory, and sophistication in design and construction of instruments. But there is no doubt in my mind that the contribution that overshadows all others is his contribution to our instrument's musical literature. Dating back to his earliest years at Kansas and deepening during the years, the flow of compositions in his mature years has made our lives as performers increasingly worth living.

After 13 years of service, Ronald Barnes retired from his
position as University Carillonist at the University of California, Berkeley,
on October 15, 1995. Jeff Davis has been appointed Acting University
Carillonist.

Eurocarillon Festival

The first Eurocarillon Festival took place in Bruges and
Damme, Belgium, on September 1–3, 1995. It was organized by the two
cities and the newly founded European carillon organization, Eurocarillon, which
consists of representatives from Portugal, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany,
Spain, England, and The Netherlands.

On the first two days several concerts were given on the
carillon hung in the high Bruges town hall belfry overlooking the central market
square. The 47-bell instrument with a six-ton bourdon was cast in 1748 by Joris
Dumery and renovated in 1969 by Eijsbouts. A four-hands rendition of Vivaldi's
The Four Seasons given by Abel Chavez and Anna Maria Reverté was one of
the festival's high points. During another concert Aimé Lombaert and
Boudewijn Zwart's performance was seen on video and heard on loudspeakers in
one of the town hall's rooms where it was coordinated with the simultaneous
playing of a percussion ensemble. The closing concerts were held on the town
hall carillon of the nearby port of Damme which was reached by a boat trip
through a picturesque landscape.

The purpose of Eurocarillon is to strengthen the position of
the carillon and the carillonneur in European cultural life. The organization
will serve as an important showcase of European carillon culture. Each year a
special Eurocarillon concert featuring the same program will be given on the
same day at the same time in all of Eurocarillon's member cities, and a
Eurocarillon festival will be held in one of the member countries. Discussions
are currently underway to hold festivals this year in Lyons, next year in
Barcelona, and in 1998 in Amsterdam.

Profile: McDonogh School

The McDonogh School is an independent, endowed, non-denominational, college preparatory school for boys and girls. The spacious 775-acre country campus with colonial and contemporary brick buildings lies to the northwest of Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1873, John McDonogh had provided for this school for promising boys who would not otherwise have been able to obtain an education. Paying students were admitted for the first time in 1922, and in 1975 the school became coeducational.

The McDonogh Carillon was given by Mr. H. Beale Rollins (class of 1915) and his wife in 1978. The 48 bells were cast by the Petit and Fritsen Bellfoundry of Aarle-Rixtel, The Netherlands. The bourdon weighs 3,300 pounds, sounds D, and is connected to C on the keyboard. The carillon hangs in the tower of the Tagart Memorial Chapel. A chime of ten bells, crafted at Baltimore's McShane Bellfoundry for the new chapel in 1898, was in use until 1978.

William S. Lyon-Vaiden has been the McDonogh Carillonneur since the instrument's installation. A special series of summer recitals on Friday evenings at 7:00 during July and August features guest recitalists from the U.S. and abroad.

Profile: Holland, Pennsylvania

Trinity United Church of Christ in Holland, Pennsylvania--near Philadelphia--is home to a unique carillon installation. The first 25 bells for the Schneider Memorial Carillon were a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schneider. Cast in 1929 by the Meneely Bell Foundry in Watervliet, New York, the original two-octave instrument was dedicated by Melvin Corbett in 1930. It was one of few American-made carillons. A third octave was realized in 1954/55 with the addition of twelve Petit & Fritsen bells. In September 1968, the carillon was removed from the tower at Broad and Venango Streets in Philadelphia and taken to the Verdin Company in Cincinnati for storage and renewal of some of the mechanism. Upon completion of the new church building, it was installed at its present location in 1970. On the occasion of the nation's Bicentennial, twelve more Petit & Fritsen bells completed the fourth octave. The 3000-pound bourdon sounds E-flat and is keyed to C, hence the instrument transposes up a minor third. In contrast with most tower installations, the playing cabin of the Schneider carillon is on ground level, and the bells hang from an open steel frame that sits atop the cabin.

Lisa Lonie, carillonneur of Trinity Church, plays for regular church services. A special series of summer recitals on Thursday evenings at 7:30 during July and August features Lonie, other Philadelphia-area carillonneurs, and guest recitalists from the U.S. and abroad.

Profile: Roeselare, Belgium

Each of the 13 stories of St. Michael's Church in Roeselare, Belgium, has a story to tell. Rebuilt following a fire that leveled the city in 1488, the Sint-Michielskerk lost its 300-foot spire to a storm in 1735, and the current campanile was erected in the middle of the 18th century. Four swinging bells hang in the attic from a large frame that supports their total weight of seven tons. A mechanical tower clock from the city hall is preserved in the tower of St. Michael's. Tourists can read a series of didactic texts on the walls that chronicle the history of several centuries of bell ringing traditions in this old Flemish city. In fact, the Roeselare bell ringers guild claims that theirs is the only place in Flanders where the tradition of tolling bells manually is preserved.

During the 19th century, the Roeselare carillon was composed of a hodgepodge of 38 bells that were played by a pneumatic system from an ivory type keyboard devised by the Ghent organbuilder Lovaert. The bells were played by the church organist until the system fell into an unplayable state of disrepair. In 1893 a new carillon was cast by Severinus van Aerschodt of Louvain and connected to a Mechelen/Denyn-standard console fabricated by Desiré Somers. In 1917, during the first World War, these bells were plundered by the Germans. Marcel Michiels of Doornik cast 35 bells (bourdon of 1,332 pounds) for Roeselare  in 1921. The bells were recast in Doornik in 1939 and returned to the tower. The bourdon had grown to 1,378 pounds. Twelve Eijsbouts bells were added in 1988, and in 1992 the old bells were returned, a new bass bell was added, and a new playing console was installed. The lightweight instrument now comprises 49 bells from a 1,962-pound bourdon which sounds F and is keyed to B-flat; hence the instrument transposes up a fifth. Koen Cosaert is municipal carillonneur of Roeselare, Izegem, and Harelbeke, an organist in Kortrijk, and an instructor at the Royal Belgian Carillon School in Mechelen. The carillon is played every Tuesday morning and every other Saturday at noon. A special series of evening recitals is organized each year from June through September. Guided tours of the tower are available from June through September; phone (051)207-843 for group reservations.

Profile: Maastricht, The Netherlands

Capital of the province of Limburg, Maastricht lies near the Belgian and German borders in the southeastern Netherlands. It takes its name from the Maas (Meuse) river which runs through it. The Roman settlement, Trajectum ad Mosam, was founded around 50 B.C. at this strategic river crossing point. A variety of structures bear witness to its ancient past and lively present. The Milanese architect Aldo Rossi designed the modern Bonnefanten Museum building (Limburg Museum of Art and Antiquities) which houses paintings from the southern Netherlands and modern works, as well as prehistoric material and relics from Roman and early medieval graves. However, many local artifacts remain buried under modern buildings in the city. Some remnants of the first (1229) and second (mid-14th century) town walls still exist including the Helpoort (Hell Gate), the oldest town gate in The Netherlands.

The Sint Servaaskerk, founded at the end of the fourth century, is the oldest church in The Netherlands. The original building was erected over the grave of St. Servatius, the first bishop of Maastricht. The oldest part of the present church--a Romanesque cruciform basilica--dates from the year 1000.

While the present carillon of St. Servaas is relatively new, the church has a history of bells beginning in the 16th century. A tower clock was ordered in 1544 and eleven years later the bellfounder Henrick Van Trier, actually of Aachen, was commissioned to cast 19 bells. The bells did not pass inspection and were recast before being hung in the middle tower of the west section of the church. When the trio of towers was  rebuilt in baroque style, it was deemed time to replace the falsely-tuned Van Trier bells with a new instrument. Andreas Jozef van den Gheyn of Louvain was engaged in 1767 to build a new carillon of 40 bells based on a bourdon sounding F. Several legends describe how the carillon narrowly escaped plunder during the French occupation. It is said that a commission of the city warded off the danger by declaring the instrument "un chef-d'œuvre de l'art." Some contend that a plea was made claiming that the inhabitants of the area that had previously been Belgium were of the belief that a tower without a carillon was a body without a soul, and that the citizens could not be denied the pleasure of the carillon to which they were so dearly attached. More convincing is a tactic used by a number of cities in various wars: the Maastricht people told the French that the carillon should be preserved in order to play for victories of the French army and French national celebrations. The argument worked, as seizure of the carillon for its bronze content was definitively cancelled. The Maastricht carillon was not immune, however, to the general decadence that plagued the carillon world during the 19th century. Local piano builder Frederik Smulders got his hands on the instrument and installed an ivory-type keyboard. A 20th-century revival of the art was inspired by the Belgian Jef Denyn, and he served as an advisor when a new manual playing console was installed in 1935. But alas, the instrument was lost to a fire in 1955.

A brand new carillon for Maastricht was cast by the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry of Asten, The Netherlands, in 1976. The 47 bells were hung in the south tower of the choir end of the church. With a 595-pound bourdon sounding C, the instrument was very lightweight--transposing up an octave. With the restoration of the church in 1984 the carillon was moved to one of the towers at the west side. It was enlarged with ten new bells and incorporating the three Petit & Fritsen swinging bells (c, d, e) which were already hanging in that tower. The carillon now spans five octaves and plays in concert pitch with a bourdon of C (4,961 lbs.). In addition to a special summer series of recitals on Thursday evenings from May through August, the instrument is played incidentally throughout the year.

A 14,112-pound bell (G) hangs in the other west tower; it was cast in 1983 by Eijsbouts as a replica of a bell by the brothers Moer which was broken in the 19th century. This bell is called "Grameer" (grandmother) which indicates its very special place in the hearts of the people of Maastricht. It is rung only a few times each year on very special occasions. The old "grameer" was placed in the church courtyard, the listening area for carillon concerts, on the spot where it was cast in 1515.

Maastricht also has a 1664 Hemony carillon (bourdon F-sharp, 1,687 lbs.) which hangs in the city hall. Recently restored, the instrument comprises one bell made by François and Pieter Hemony in 1663, sixteen by François Hemony in 1664, 26 by Eijsbouts in 1962, and six by Petit & Fritsen in 1996. It is played every Friday from 11:30 to 12:30 pm.

Frank Steijns is municipal carillonneur, not only in Maastricht but also in Weert and Heerlen. He received the Final Diploma with great distinction from the Royal Belgian Carillon School in 1991. Steijns studied violin, music theory, and orchestral conducting at the Lemmens Institute where he obtained four First Prizes, and graduated in 1994. He wrote a thesis on the Dutch composer Henk Badings. He has made numerous recordings as a carillonneur and violinist. He tours as a violinist with the Johann Strauss Orchestra of André Rieu which, in Monaco in 1996, won the "World Music Award" as the best selling Benelux artist of the world. Also, Steijns founded a commission that will organize an International Composition Competition "Henk Badings" with the purpose of stimulating composers all over the world to write carillon music.

Brian Swager is a contributing editor of THE DIAPASON.

Next GCNA Congress

Iowa State University and University Carillonneur Tin-shi Tam will host the 57th Congress of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America from Wednesday, June 16 through Saturday, June 19.  The congress will be part of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Bells of Iowa State.

The Bells of Iowa State were donated to the University by Edgar Williams Stanton, who graduated with the first class in 1872. Including his years as a student, Stanton spent a half century on campus, becoming a faculty member, head of the department of mathematics, secretary of the Board of Trustees, Dean of the Junior College, Vice President and, on four different occasions, Acting President.

Stanton's first wife was Margaret Price MacDonald Stanton, the University's first Dean of Women, who was a part of Iowa State for almost twenty-five years. When she died in 1895, her husband decided to establish a monument--a free-standing tower with a chime of ten bells. With the help of University President William M. Beard-shear, Stanton chose a site for the tower on central campus, and the state legislature appropriated $7,500 for the construction of the tower and its clock.

The Campanile was built in 1897, designed by an architect from Des Moines, George E. Hallett. The bells were installed in the newly built campanile in 1899. They were the first scientifically tuned bells to be exported by John Taylor & Company of Loughborough, England.

When Stanton died in 1920, his will provided for a second memorial. At the request of his second wife, Mrs. Julia Ann Wentch Stanton, and their children, the university installed twenty-six additional bells and a playing console in the campanile in 1929. The structure thus became known as the Edgar W. and Margaret MacDonald Stanton Memorial Carillon.

In 1954, the trustees of the Stanton Memorial Estate joined with others to create the Stanton Memorial Carillon  Foundation, further advancing the carillon at Iowa State. Soon after the foundation was formed, it purchased thirteen additional treble bells, along with a new playing console. These were installed in 1956, bringing the total number of bells to forty-nine. In 1967, a fiftieth bell was added.

The carillon and campanile were renovated from 1992 to 1994. The renovation of the carillon was completed by the I. T. Verdin Company and Meeks, Watson & Company. The work included a redesign of the framing and positioning of the bells, new clappers for all bells, a new transmission system (radial action) for the instrument, and new playing and practice consoles. The campanile received a new roof, the exterior bricks were repaired, and new clock movements and a digital control system were added to coordinate the operation of the clock and chimes.

Of the fifty bells cast by John Taylor & Company, the bourdon weighs 5,484 pounds and the smallest weighs 9 pounds. The total weight of the bells is 30,855 pounds. The pitches range from the second B-flat below middle C, then chromatically, four octaves from C to C4. The playing console is made according to the North American standard with a two-octave pedalboard (C-C2).

Next year is the centennial anniversary of the Bells of Iowa State.  The university is delighted to have the congress as part of the celebration. Located in Ames, Iowa State University is the nation's oldest land-grant university. Its campus covers nearly 2,000 acres and includes 154 buildings, many of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. Ames is easily accessed by Interstates 35 and 80. The Des Moines International Airport, located 45 minutes south of Ames, is served by major commercial airlines.

Congress lodging will be in the Iowa State Memorial Union, located across the street from Stanton Memorial Carillon and within walking distance to campus buildings; phone: 515/292-1111; fax: 515/294-1105. Other accommodations are available at Friley Hall, a campus residence hall; phone: 515/294-8384; fax: 515/294-0623. Also available is Iowa House, a guest house located one block south from Iowa State University; phone: 515/292-8870; fax: 515/292-8870.

Inquiries may be directed to the University Carillonneur, Department of Music, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011; phone: 515/294-2911; fax: 515/294-6409. E-mail: <[email protected]>. Further information about the Congress is available on the ISU Homepage: <http://www.music.iastate.edu/carillon&gt;.

Jenny King appointed in Michigan

Jenny Lungershausen King is the new carillonneur at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit. Serving as interim carillonneur at Christ Church Cranbrook since the fall of 1995, King was appointed to the re-instated position last year. At Cranbrook she plays twice a month for Sunday morning worship services; for weddings, funerals and memorial services, and for special programs. She is responsible for coordinating the church's long-standing summer carillon series, initiated in 1928 by Anton Brees.

The Wallace carillon at Christ Church Cranbrook was originally installed in 1928. It now comprises 50 Taylor bells and a new keyboard designed and installed by Rick Watson.

King founded an annual summer carillon series at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in 1995. She became the official carillonneur at the church last year. The church's 23-bell Gillett and Johnston instrument was installed in 1925 in honor of Henry Russel. The oldest carillon in Michigan and to date the only carillon in Detroit, the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian instrument likewise is played before and after Sunday worship, for special events and in recital. It features its original playing console.

King studied with Bill De Turk at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church and played her GCNA examination recital in 1991 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. A graduate of Oberlin College, she is a freelance writer who covers the auto and commercial real estate industries for several publications. In September she took delivery of a 1998 VW New Beetle and figures she may be the first GCNA member to own one. "Hug it, drive it--either way it's great," she said.