Carillon News

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

Brian Swager is carillon editor of The Diapason.

Nunc Dimittis

James Raymond Lawson died on October 14, 2003, in his hometown of Cody, Wyoming, at age 84. Lawson's life was devoted to the carillon, and he was known to carillonneurs and carillon enthusiasts worldwide.

Lawson discovered the carillon while a student at the University of Chicago. After graduation he became carillonneur of Hoover Tower at Stanford University. Following army service during World War II, the G.I. bill gave him the opportunity to study at the Belgian Carillon School in Mechelen and then a year at the University of London where he studied library science. Lawson's next carillon position was at the University of Chicago. From there he went to New York City where he was carillonneur at the Riverside Church for nearly 30 years, working also as a librarian at Lehman College. In 1989 he returned to Cody, Wyoming. A year later, his former colleague from the Riverside Church, Frederick Swann, invited Lawson to dedicate the new carillon at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, and become its first carillonneur. Lawson continued there until his declining health forced him to retire again to Cody in 2002.

Lawson was known more for his creative programming than his performing ability. He was an untiring promoter of the instrument, garnering much publicity. He established and ran the Societas Campanariorum through which he published and distributed compositions, transcriptions and arrangements for carillon. He was a prolific correspondent and had the habit of sending a copy of his program to composers and arrangers whose music he had performed.

Lawson was quite a controversial character, loved by many, damned by others. While not known for his "political correctness," he certainly was known for his generosity, his kind heart, and his ingratiating sense of humor. His offbeat wit was aimed at himself as often as at others. For example, Jim wrote me following an earthquake, insisting that it had rattled the bells and that neighbors called the Cathedral exclaiming: "Lawson, you've never sounded better!" At one point in his career he dared to work for vendors of electronic bell instruments and later came under fire again by unknowing carillonneurs when he associated himself with the controversial major-third carillon at the Crystal Cathedral. Lawson responded by writing an article on this new phenomenon for The American Organist. He also contributed articles on a variety of subjects to the Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

"Carillonneuse" was how Jim referred to all female carillonneurs, and he wrote this poem for one:

To a Fair Carillonneuse

Attending a Convention of Carillonneurs

Must beat on tortured bronze?

Fright the young, pain the old, deafen all?

This sport was meant for beasts

Caged (as is proper) twixt earth and sky

Pounding, stomping, grunting, they storm heaven

Then fall in sweat, defeated.

Beauteous belle, thou should toll a better song

Thy tierce, thy quint, thy octave were tuned above

Divine founder's hands shaped thy profile

(O envied clapper that rings thy nominal!)

Cast not thy partials before brutes

Let them rave and rend the air

Join not their rage, go thou in quiet

Thy beauties best seen, not heard.

Jim's fondness for Cody--where he was born on May 25, 1919--never waned, and there is something poetic about his returning there to pass his final days.  But then, Jim always said that "old bell ringers don't die; they just drop their clappers."

Fire, Sunday, 2 November 2003

52 Sanchez Street, San Francisco

On Sunday, 2 November 2003, a fire destroyed the apartment building where The Diapason carillon editor Brian Swager lived. He had returned home from playing for morning church services, made lunch, and began working at this computer when he felt the building shake and smelled smoke. Living on the third floor, he barely had time to escape the building, grabbing a few essential items and running down the stairs and out the back door. At that point the entire wall of the building next door was already engulfed in flames.

The apartment next to Brian's and the one below it were completely gutted. The fire had worked its way into his apartment by the time the firemen extinguished the flames. Nothing was untouched: what wasn't consumed by flames was damaged by water, smoke, and the falling ceiling.

Friends have been very supportive. For three days crews helped sort through the rubble and salvage many things. Fortunately 90% of his music scores survived, and only a few CDs melted. A friend has offered housing and other friends have made work space available. In addition to losing his home and work space, his practice organ was destroyed, his harp burned, and virtually all furnishings, appliances and electronics will need to be replaced.

Contributions are welcome; for information on Brian's wish list visit <http://www.spiritouch.org/fire.html&gt;; to send an email message:

<[email protected]>.

Brian Swager is a contributing editor of The Diapason.

Travelogue, Part II

This second installment of my travel journal begins in Peer, Belgium, where I left off in last month's column.

On Monday morning I awaken to a shaking bed: an earthquake! My host seems to be doing everything he can to make this San Franciscan feel right at home. After the midday meal he drives me back to Mechelen where I spend the rest of the day practicing at the carillon school and doing laundry. In the evening I attend the carillon recital at the St. Rombouts tower performed by Marina Nevskaya, a Russian pianist/ composer/organist who has just received her final diploma from the school. After the recital I greet several old friends.

When I return to the school in the morning, Jo Haazen, the director of the school and my former teacher, is there.  Jo leaves the office door open and listens while I practice some German dances of Mozart. He interrupts me several times with suggestions on how I can better adapt these transcriptions to a heavy carillon. He reminds me that the man who made these transcriptions plays carillons with bass bells that are much less resonant and lighter than those in the Mechelen carillon.

Later I catch a train to The Netherlands. It rains during my recital in Barneveld, but a few devoted listeners with umbrellas greet me at the tower door when I emerge. The next morning, my host Henry Groen takes me to Wageningen where he must play the carillon during the weekly farmers' market. Since there is no guest recital series in Wageningen, Henry has never heard the carillon from the street, so he asks me to play so that he can go outside and listen. In the evening I play in Ede where a closed circuit video installation enables the listeners to watch me play. One of the advantages of being alone in a tower is that I can take off as many clothes as I want. An hour of vigorous playing on a warm summer evening usually leaves me drenched in sweat. But tonight I stay dressed. They send me off with a bottle of wine in addition to my honorarium.

On Thursday I play in Venlo where for all I can tell there is no captive audience except for Ton, the man who opened the front door of the church for me and pointed me in the right direction. Since practice time on a real carillon has been extremely limited, I seize the opportunity to substitute several of the pieces from my alternate program. Ton didn't have a printed program, so he never knew the difference. We had coffee at an outdoor café on the town square, and then I caught a train to Amsterdam. I visit one of my favorite watering holes, sleep in the next morning, head for Schiphol, and fly to Copenhagen.

Ulla picks me up, we have dinner, I practice a bit on her carillon, and we head for her garden cottage on the outskirts of Copenhagen which will be my home for the next few days. In the morning Ulla takes me to Brøndby Strand, a suburb of Copenhagen, for my noon recital. The Brøndby carillonneur's husband rides up on his bicycle, kicking his feet in the air to display his American flag socks. The Danes love flags. Today I play my new program. It includes John Courter's In Memoriam September 11 which is appreciated everywhere I play it. Lunch is served after the recital, and then we head for the office where Annelise and Ulla make photocopies of my arrangements. Ulla and I head back to the city and I play at Our Savior's Church at 5:00. The tower is stunning and I go up early to soak up the view from the spiral staircase that winds around the outside of the gilded spire.

Sunday is a free day. Ulla is off to Ireland, so I have the day to myself at the cottage. The cottage has no running water, but it does have an electric piano. So, after practicing yoga in the garden, I start composing and arranging music for an upcoming recital. I had very little repertoire for a two-octave instrument, so when I had to send in a program for Cuijk, I said that I would play pieces such as "Three German Dances" and "Chant du Soir" by Brian Swager--pieces that didn't exist until today.

On Monday I fly back to Amsterdam and meet friends for dinner. On Tuesday the weather is hot, so I head for Zandvoort for a few hours to walk on the beach and frolic in the North Sea.  Going back to my room in Amsterdam for a shower turned out to be a waste of time, as there is no air conditioning on the train to Enkhuizen. It is a beautiful little port town, the harbor is bustling, and many people are sitting out on the decks of their boats. The carillon is audible from here when the wind is right. But the weather begins changing quickly. A mighty wind off the Ijsselmeer kicks up as I climb the tower. It is an "open lantern" type of tower which means that the top part of the tower containing the bells is exposed to the elements, and I had to scale a few ladders to reach the playing cabin. The rain hit just as I got inside the cabin. The storm blew over as quickly as it had come. The instrument is regal, a lovely historic Hemony carillon. After a drink with devoted, raingear-clad listeners, I caught a train back to Amsterdam.

On Wednesday I headed back to Mechelen and had my first practice session on the great carillon in the St. Rombouts tower. On Thursday I play in Genk where my gift after the recital is a clay bell filled with genever--a locally produced sort of gin. I can't help but sample it on the slow train ride home.

Friday's recital is on the two-octave carillon in Cuijk, The Netherlands, and is the debut of those little ditties that I wrote in Copenhagen. On Saturday I watch the gay pride parade on the canals of Amsterdam. These floats literally float! On Sunday I head back to Belgium, stopping in Mechelen to practice in the school before going on to Nivelles for a 4:00 recital. A television crew is there to film the recital and interview me afterwards. I had a surprise reunion with Guido, a colleague of my best friend in Mechelen, and his partner Francis. They came to the champagne reception, and I ended up having dinner with them. Guido took me to the train station in time to miss the last train home by the blow of a whistle accompanied by the evil grimace of the conductor. I've learned to maintain an intrepid, adventurous spirit. Guido graciously lodged me in Brussels, and I was back in Mechelen in the morning in time for a shower and my 11:30 rehearsal at St. Rombouts. Then I made my way quickly to Louvain where I played a program of 20th-century carillon music during an International Congress of Musicologists. The carillon in the University Library--having English bells--is an anomaly in Belgium. Wtih 32 bells from the original instrument cast in 1928 by the Gillett and Johnston foundry of Croydon, it is now a five-octave instrument, enlarged in 1983 with 31 new Eijsbouts bells. It is a heavy instrument, the second largest in Belgium, and the G&J bells give it a warm character. The action seems rather stiff at first, but by the end of the first piece I feel like I've figured out what I need to do to get the expressive effects that I want.

Back in Mechelen, I have a nap before my evening recital there. Playing in Mechelen is usually the high point of my summer recital tour. Mechelen is known as the mecca of the carillon art. The serious listeners sit quietly in the courtyard of the cultural center. The Monday evening summer recital series is a tradition that started here in 1896. The carillon is very heavy; the Eijsbouts bells are perfectly tuned in equal temperament; the classic enclosed bell chamber has vaulted ceilings and louvered openings projecting a homogenous sound; the awesome tower is high (about 450 steps to the playing cabin) and majestic; the sound is rich and resonant. Every carillon effect, except the tinkling sound of really small music box-like bells, is possible here: from thunderous fortissimo to cantabile to a whispering pianissimo. My program includes the Passacaglia of Jos Lerinckx, a masterpiece for carillon that sounds best with this wide range of effects. Lerinckx was a Mechelen resident and died just last year. I played his Variations on "There Were Two King's Children" on my examination recital at the carillon school in 1986. On subsequent visits to Mechelen, Jos often gave me scores of his organ and carillon music, and then he would talk my ear off in a most delightful way. I was sad that Jos was not at the base of the tower after my recital to greet me as usual, but the other "Mechelaars" were most appreciative of my performance--especially the Passacaglia--and assured me that Jos was indeed there. Another audience was assembled in a neighboring courtyard for an elegant birthday celebration. When the recital began, the partying stopped, and they sat quietly to listen. Amazing! I was invited to join them afterwards.

It has been a busy month, and I'm ready for a little vacation, so in the morning I catch a train to Paris where I spend the day before boarding a night train to Barcelona. Here I have a week to explore the city, view the famous art nouveau architecture of the likes of Antoni Gaudí and Montaner, get food poisoning from a rotten paella, and recover on the beach in nearby Sitges.

The playing resumes in Hannover, Germany. The sisters of the Henriettenstiftung, on the 100th anniversary of their order, installed a carillon in the courtyard of a hospital and home for the elderly. Cast by the F. Schilling bellfoundry of Heidelberg in 1940, the 49 bells hang in a very low tower, just above the playing console which is on ground level. The bells have a particularly sweet, round, resonant tone. About 100 people show up for the recital, and the sisters remind me that many others are enjoying the program from their rooms. I spend an extra day in Hannover as guests of the sisters, eating hearty meals, getting plenty of rest, practicing many hours on their organ, and making some carillon arrangements. The press was in attendance and promised to post a report on <www.citypix.de&gt; from the recital on 14.08.02.

Saturday afternoon's recital is in Almere-Haven near Amsterdam. The Dutch being masterful at holding back the sea have created a new city where there once was water and marsh. So, everything in Almere is very new, relatively speaking, in stark contrast to the historic architecture in most cities here. The carillon in the Harbor area of the city that I'm playing this year dates from 1979, whereas the city center carillon dates from 1985. The city is happy to support the carillons as part of its effort to build culture and community in Almere. The action is very light and sensitive, making one think of a harpsichord. I am taken by the contrast between the delicate nature of this instrument and the large movements that my fists must make to get from key to key and press them all the way down. On some instruments you can fling the keys down with the flick of a wrist, but to play this one sensitively, I must dpress the keys most of the way, feel the weight of the clapper, and then play. I conclude that even more control and virtuosity would be possible if the keyfall were significantly reduced, eliminating a lot of wasted motion. Nonetheless, it is a delight to play. Some people from the audience and the local carillon committee join municipal carillonneur Frits and me for a beer. Frits and I stay for dinner, and I enjoy the opportunity to talk shop with a colleague whom I haven't seen for several years.

To be continued.

Brian Swager is a contributing editor of THE DIAPASON.

Cobh bells return home

Adrian Patrick Gebruers, carillonneur of St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, Ireland, sends the following news. Adrian Gebruers and St. Colman's Cathedral will be hosts for the congress of the World Carillon Federation in 2002.

Early in the morning of Wednesday April 15, 1998, the ship "Mathilda" sailed past St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh,  Ireland, en route from Rotterdam to the Port of Cork.  On board was the precious cargo of the bells of the cathedral carillon returning from the Royal Eijsbouts Foundry in Asten, The Netherlands, where they had been since the previous October as part of the complete restoration and modernization of this famous carillon. The following Sunday afternoon, all forty-nine bells were lined up at the base of the cathedral tower to be viewed by the general public. In all, several thousand people came to admire and photograph the bells which have always been so much a part of the life of the community. An exhibition of material illustrating the history of the Cobh Carillon past and present aroused great interest. At 6 pm, Bishop John Magee of Cloyne, who had specially returned from the Vatican where he was on official business, performed the solemn blessing of the bells. The two new bass bells were named for the Irish martyrs St. Oliver Plunkett and Blessed Dominic Collins, and the five treble bells added in 1958 but not named at the time were christened Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, the great Irish educationalist. In his homily, the Bishop referred to the significance and importance of bells in religious worship and in the daily life of the community. He also thanked all those who had made the carillon restoration possible, including Royal Eijsbouts. The choir was under the direction of Adrian Patrick Gebruers, organist, choirmaster, and carillonneur of St. Colman's Cathedral. Readings were done by members of the Cobh Carillon Committee, including David H. Cox, professor of music at University College Cork, and Dr. Elizabeth Gebruers, wife of the carillonneur. The responsorial psalm "I Will Sing Forever of Your Love O Lord" was sung by Adrian Gebruers in a setting composed by his late father, Staf Gebruers, the first carillonneur of St. Colman's. The intercessions included prayers for those deceased carillonneurs who had played the Cobh Carillon and for Jef Rottiers, teacher in Mechelen of the present carillonneur. As the Bishop blessed and incensed the bells, the cathedral choir sang the church's great hymn of thanksgiving, the first line of which is inscribed on the bourdon of the carillon: "Te Deum Laudamus" ("We praise Thee, O God").

The formal rededication of the restored and modernised 49-bell carillon of St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh took place on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 1998. The day began with a live link-up on the regional radio station of key figures involved in the restoration, including Bishop John Magee and the Cathedral Carillonneur. This was followed at noon by a special Mass in the Cathedral, concelebrated by the Bishop and members of the Diocesan Chapter. The first Carillonneur of St. Colman's, the late Staf Gebruers, and his wife Maureen were commemorated in the Bidding Prayers. In addition, the Cathedral Choir sang compositions by Staf Gebruers during the Mass. The two new bass bells, named St. Oliver Plunkett and Blessed Dominic Collins, were formally rung for the first time during the Elevation. At the conclusion of the Mass, the Bishop and other dignitaries walked in solemn procession to the tower entrance where a commemorative sculpture was unveiled. The Bishop then formally declared the carillon rededicated and the Carillonneur played the hymn, "The Bells of the Angelus," which was the last piece heard on the bells the previous October just before the restoration work began. This was followed by the "Te Deum" Prelude by Charpentier. The short recital concluded with the first performance of The Sacred Metal by David Harold Cox, Professor of Music at University College Cork. This work was commissioned for the occasion by the Cobh Carillon Committee, with funds provided by the Arts Council, and especially highlights the two new bass bell notes of C-sharp and D-sharp. There followed a formal reception in the Bishop's House. In attendance were local and visiting dignitaries, including Ministers of State and TD's (Members of Parliament). In a speech, Bishop Magree spoke emotionally of his joy in finally having the carillon restored. A letter of congratulations from Mr. Loek Boogert, President of the World Carillon Federation, was also read out. There was an hour-long recital at 4:30 during which guests and journalists were given an opportunity to view the new carillon installation. They were shown the computer-operated automatic and practice-console systems, the galvanized steel framework and mechanism and the playing cabin now located within the belfry. All expressed their approval of the quality of the workmanship and congratulations were extended to P. J. Hegarty & Sons, the main contractors, and Royal Eijsbouts, the bellfounders, for a job well done.

Dutch Carillon Museum

The National Carilllon Museum in Asten, The Netherlands, publishes the quarterly Berichten uit Het Nationaal Beiaarrdmuseum. Here follows some information from recent issues.

* Many bells were removed from towers during World War II to be melted for their metal. A number were saved from destruction and were the subject of research. One resulting dissertation was Acoustical Measurements on Church Bells and Carillons by E.W. van Heuven (Delft, 1949). Less well-known is the research done by E. Thienhaus of Hamburg which includes detailed drawings of hundreds of German bells. Simon Lighthart of Bemmel has taken on the project to do statistical research on this collection of information in the Dutch National Carillon Museum.

* A recent donation to the museum is an African mask which was traditionally used in an adolescent's initiation rite to manhood. A bell is found on the back of the mask with which the Great Spirit announced its coming. The mask has its origins in the Baga tribe in Guinea. The museum also acquired an African mask used by the Dan tribe of the Ivory Coast in their ritual dances. A beard of bells forms a half circle which is completed with jingle bells around the forehead hairline. Further, the museum acquired items worn by shamans from Nepal: two leather belts are decorated with bells, a tail, and tiger teeth.

* Museum curator André Lehr tells the fascinating story of "A squabble between Nijmegen and Liege--or--how Jean-Baptiste Levache of Liege cast a false-sounding carillon for  Nijmegen in 1735." It could also be entitled "The merry pranks of an unscrupulous bellfounder."

* The traditional western European bell profile has scarcely changed since the Middle Ages. The cost of experimentation has been drastically reduced thanks to the advent of special computer programs. A recent design demonstrates that it would be possible to produce a bell with the same pitch and timbre as, yet 20% lighter than, a bell with a traditional profile.

* The Dutch National Service for the Preservation of Monuments publishes a brochure concerning the nuisance of pigeons in towers.

* Bert Augustus discusses the Eijsbouts firm's restoration of the tolling bells for the cathedral of Seville. He describes the Spanish tradition of tolling bells in which the bells are swung in complete revolutions causing characteristic rhythmic patterns, a characteristic timbre due to the dampening of the bell by the clapper, and lots of damage to the bells. For a web page on the bells of Seville, see "Campanas de las Catedrales de España" at <http://www.cult.gva.es/scripts/gcv/campacat.idc?cpoblacio=sevilla&gt;.

* André Lehre muses over what possessed the 16th-century inhabitants of the Low Countries to enthusiastically acquire incredibly false-sounding carillons for virtually every city. He says that a pilgrimage to Monnickendam is in order to hear the Speeltoren carillon that was cast in 1596 by Peter III van den Ghein, since it is the only place that one can witness the original sound of a complete 16th-century carillon. He notes that the imperfections of early carillon bells were masked to a certain extent in several ways. Old playing consoles and photographs indicate that there was sometimes the possibility of reducing the keyfall in which case the bells were struck with less force producing a sound that favored the fundamental pitch and reduced the strength of the overtones. The use of wrought iron clappers gave a milder sound. Furthermore, performance practice differed: virtuosic playing was the exception. Also, dissonance was minimized in a musical texture in which normally only two notes were struck simultaneously.

* The National Carillon Museum's Internet address is <www.carillon-museum.nl&gt;. The e-mail address is <[email protected]>.

Send items for "Carillon News" to Dr. Brian Swager, c/o The Diapason, 380 E. Northwest Hwy., Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL 60016-2282. For information on the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, write to: GCNA, 37 Noel Dr., Williamsville, NY 14221.

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.

Brian Swager is carillon editor of THE DIAPASON.

Robert Byrnes,
carillonneur of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, died May 28,
2004. Byrnes graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1972, earned a
master's degree in music from UNI in 1974, and taught at UNI since 1972
in the School of Music. He was also an administrative assistant and director of
the UNI Varsity Men's Glee Club. He was especially known among
carillonneurs for his compositions such as On the San Antonio River and
Reflection.

The Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn” in
Mechelen, Belgium, held a carillon composition competition. Sixteen entries
were received from composers in Belgium, America, and Russia. The winner was Geert
D'hollander. His composition, We
Ring, We Chime, We Toll, became the obligatory work for the Fifth International
Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition, which was held in Mechelen, Belgium, in
September 2003. Twelve carillonneurs from six countries participated. Winners,
from first to fifth place, were: Twan Bearda (The Netherlands), Ana Lucia Elias
(Portugal), Liesbeth Janssens (Belgium), Charles Dairay (France), and Henk
Veldman (The Netherlands).

A list of carillons all over the world and a list of CD
recordings of carillons are available on the website of the World Carillon
Federation:

<www.carillon.org/&gt;.

The 2006 World Congress will be held in Gdansk, Poland. The
first carillon in Gdansk dates from the 16th century, and it was the first city
outside the Low Countries to have a carillon. Both of Gdansk's historic
carillons were lost during the war. Currently the city has two carillons. The
larger one is an instrument of 49 bells hanging in the tower of St.
Catherina's Church. The Gdansk Town Hall has a three-octave, 37-bell
carillon dating from 2000.

A new 49-bell carillon was installed in
theHelligåndskirken in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has four fully chromatic
octaves from “C” and has a total weight of 14 tons. The new
carillon was christened by Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen with a special mass. The
church's organist and carillonneur, Hans Ole Thers, began the dedicatory
recital with Salute to the C-Sharp Key as a tribute to the lowest semitone,
which is absent on most other carillons. Ulla Laage
style='font-weight:normal'> also played a recital as part of the festivities.

Send items for “Carillon News” to Dr. Brian
Swager, c/o The Diapason, 380 E. Northwest Hwy., Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL
60016-2282; e-mail:

<[email protected]>. For information on the Guild
of Carillonneurs in North America, write to: GCNA, 37 Noel Dr., Williamsville,
NY 14221.