Carillon News

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.

Call for papers

From August 9 through 13, 1998, the biennial congress of the World Carillon Federation will take place in Mechelen and Louvain, Belgium. As part of this event, the Catholic University of Louvain will sponsor a congress on campanology. Since campanology is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship, papers from various areas of research are welcome, including but not limited to musicology, history, sociology, psychology, theology, law, physics, and environmental science. Topics will be organized in the following categories:

1) The use of bells as public signaling devices in Europe from the 12th to the end of the 18th century (secular and religious forms or aspects, musical applications)

2) Determinants of the sound quality of bells (material, bell profile, bell chamber, environmental influences, etc.) and of the perception of bells (ideology, customization, conditioning, etc)

3) The state of carillon art between 1800 and 1900

Papers on other topics will be considered. Abstracts are due on June 30, 1997. Direct questions, suggestions, and abstracts to: Luc Rombouts, Congress Coordinator, University Hall, Oude Markt 13, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; e-mail: [email protected]

Profile: Amsterdam's Westertoren

The West Church (Westerkerk) was officially opened on Whitsunday 1631. It is one of the oldest churches especially built for Protestant services, and the largest such church in The Netherlands. Hendrick de Keyser, the city architect, built the church in Dutch Renaissance style, which is characterized by a combination of brick and stone. The famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn was buried inside the church in a rental grave in 1669. In 1966 Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus were married in the church. From 1985–1990 the church was completely restored.

Not until 1686, when organ accompaniment to singing had become customary, was the Westerkerk organ built by the father and son team of Duyschot. In 1727 it was considerably extended by the father, and it was further enlarged in the 19th century. Between 1988 and 1991 Flentrop of Zaandam restored the organ as nearly as possible to its original condition of 1686/1727.

In the medieval tradition, the 280-foot tower stands projecting from the center of the west facade. The base of the tower, up to the first gallery, is of brick, while the section above this is constructed mainly of wood with a facing of sandstone. The uppermost sections are also of wood, with an outer covering of lead. It was completed in 1638. The tower, which occupies a unique place in the affections of the people of Amsterdam, bears the symbol of the imperial crown of Maximilian of Austria, which was his gift to the city in gratitude for the support given to the Austro-Burgundian princes. The tower has inspired many songs and poems and remains a symbol of the city for Amsterdammers abroad. In her famous diary, Anne Frank makes fond references to the bells of the Westertoren ("I loved it from the start, and especially in the night it's like a faithful friend.").

The hour bell is the heaviest in Amsterdam and weighs more than 16,500 pounds; the hammer alone weighs some 450 pounds. In 1658 the famous Amsterdam bellfounder François Hemony delivered a 32-bell carillon based on a 4500-pound bourdon sounding D-flat. To complete three octaves, Claude Fremy was commissioned to found an additional three bells, but due to his death in 1699, his widow passed the contract on to Fremy's foreman, Claes Noorden. An extensive renovation of the carillon was undertaken in 1959. The 14 brass bells made by Hemony were retained while the treble range was replaced and extended by the Eijsbouts bellfoundry of Asten, The Netherlands. Presently, the carillon has 50 bells and is tuned in meantone temperament.

Boudewijn Zwart of Schoonhoven is the carillonneur of the Westertoren. He plays weekly, Tuesdays from noon to 1:00. The carillon can be heard to its best advantage from the courtyard of the Pulitzer Hotel or from the north side of the church. Four of the Amsterdam carillons are featured in a special series of summer recitals at 7:00 in the evening. Recitals at the West Tower are on Wednesdays, at the Old Church on Tuesdays,  and Saturday recitals are at the South Tower or the Mint Tower. Performers include guest carillonneurs from The Netherlands and abroad, as well as the Amsterdam municipal carillonneurs: Boudewijn Zwart, Todd Fair, Gideon Bodden, and Bernhard Winsemius.

Profile: Barneveld, The Netherlands

West of the Veluwe forest in the province of Gelderland is the city of Barneveld. The 160-foot tower of the St. Adolf Church (Oude or Sint Odulphuskerk) in Barneveld dates from the 13th century. Ravaged by fire and struck by lightning on numerous occasions, it is always restored to its old splendor. Until 1927 it was topped with a pear-shaped cone spire. As part of the restoration in that year, this was replaced with an open lantern topped by an onion-shaped crown.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Baron van Nagell as Mayor of Barneveld in 1927, a two-octave carillon was placed in the upper tolling chamber of the tower. The bells were made by the English firm Gillett & Johnston and were installed by the Dutch firm Eijsbouts. Placement was not optimal; the bells were audible only from near the tower. A few bells were added in 1948 and 1949. During a tower renovation in 1961 the carillon was moved into the lantern and expanded to four octaves. Finally, four bass bells made by Eijsbouts were added in 1977 and 1992. The current ensemble of 51 bells includes 17 made by Gillett & Johnston, one by Petit & Fritsen, two by Van Bergen, and 31 by Eijsbouts. The keyboard compass is B-flat, C, D, then chromatic through D. The bourdon sounds D-flat, hence the instrument transposes up a minor third. It is tuned in equal temperament.

Henry Groen is the municipal carillonneur. He plays on Thursdays at 10 am and Fridays from May through September at 7:00 pm. During the Old Veluwe Market--Thursdays in July and August--the carillon is played at 9:30 am. A special summer series on Tuesday evenings from 8:00 to 9:00 during June, July, and August features Groen as well as guest carillonneurs from The Netherlands and abroad.

Profile: St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh, PA

The Protestant Episcopal Parish of St. Thomas' Church in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania--20 miles from Philadelphia--was established in 1690. Bells became a part of this church's tradition in 1913 when a ten-bell chime, cast by the McShane Bell Foundry of Baltimore, Maryland, was installed.

At a memorial service for a devoted parishioner of St. Thomas', the chime-master found it impossible to play certain requested music due to the limited range of the chime. Charles Dickey, the husband of the deceased, was prompted to "do something for the bells at St. Thomas'." The Dickey family soon provided for a 48-bell carillon.

The bells were cast and tuned by the Petit & Fritsen Bellfoundry in Aarle-Rixtel, the Netherlands, and the Verdin Company of Cincinnati made the console, frame, and transmission system and was responsible for the installation. The bourdon weighs 3,223 pounds, sounds D, and is keyed to C. The keyboard compass is C, D, then chromatic through c3.

A service and recital of dedication were held on September 29, 1974. Officiating was the Rt. Rev. Lyman C. Ogilby, Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. He is the son of Dr. Remson Ogilby, the former President of Trinity College, Hartford, who was the convener of the first meeting of carillonneurs in North American, in September 1934.

Janet S. Dundore has been the carillonneur of St. Thomas' Church ever since the instrument's installation. She plays before and after all church services. A carillon prelude replaces the organ prelude on the first Sunday of every month. The carillon is also heard at weddings and funerals at St. Thomas'. Guest recitalists are invited to perform in the summer concert series on Tuesday evenings at 7 pm during July and August. A closed circuit television monitor is provided for observation of the carillonneur at work. These recitals are often followed by 8 pm concerts in the church which feature organists, choirs, brass ensembles, dance groups, Swiss Alphornists, and other instrumentalists.

The tower, built of local red sandstone, is 70 feet high. The site of St. Thomas' Church is ideal for a carillon: surrounded by 60 acres of landscaped grounds and removed from traffic noise, homes, and tall buildings.

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.

Profile: Utrecht, The Netherlands

Situated amongst the picturesque canals in the heart of Utrecht, the freestanding Dom Tower was connected with the Dom Church until a storm destroyed the church on the first of August, 1674. The tower was built in the years 1321-1382 in gothic style and was restored in the beginning of the 20th century. It has served as an example for many other Dutch towers. Of the three sections, the first two are square and of brick construction, the third is octagonal and built with natural stone. The ornate tower reaches the vertiginous height of 112 meters (367 feet)--the highest of all Dutch church towers.

In 1663 the city council of Utrecht ordered a 35-bell carillon from François and Pieter Hemony. This carillon, one of their last instruments, had as its bourdon a B(0) weighing 6056 pounds. The famous Hemony brothers were from Lorraine and worked as itinerant bellfounders until establishing themselves in the Dutch city of Zutphen in 1641. It was there in the year 1644 that, with the help of Utrecht Dom carillonneur Jacob van Eyck, they succeeded in tuning a series of carillon bells. They tuned in meantone.

Before the major tower restoration in 1902 there were a few modifications to the carillon. In 1695 seven bells made by Melchior de Haze were added. In 1888 Severinus van Aerschodt replaced one of the Hemony bells. During the period of the tower restoration which went from 1900 through 1930, considerable modifications were made to the carillon between 1902 and 1907. A modern steel frame was made to support the bells. The founder Van Bergen of Heiligerlee supplied C-sharp and E-flat bells for the bass octave in 1906; these were removed in 1951. In 1928 and 1929 the Van Aerschodt bell and one of the De Haze bells were replaced by Taylor bells. A rather extensive renovation was done in 1951. The Eijsbouts foundry replaced the De Haze bells, one of the Taylor bells, as well as a broken Hemony bell. The carillon was also extended to four octaves (47 bells) at this point.

In 1965 it became evident that rust was affecting the 1906 frame A thorough restoration, not only of the technical installation but also the bells, was deemed necessary. Between 1972 and 1974 the steel frame was replaced by a wooden frame. The Hemony bells were retuned in order to level out the effect of three centuries of corrosion. All of the non-Hemony bells were replaced by new (1972) Eijsbouts bells. Furthermore, three new bass bells were provided, the largest of which weighs upwards of 15,000 pounds.

There are now 34 Hemony bells and 16 Eijsbouts bells. The keyboard range is G, B-flat, c1, d1, then chromatic through c5. The carillon transposes down one half-step, hence the bourdon sounds F-sharp. This transposition is the result of the historical phenomenon of "c-orgeltoon" which was a B, when a¢ was 415 Hz rather than the standard present day pitch of a'=440 Hz. The Hemonys cast a total of seven carillons based on a B, three of which no longer exist.

The original automatic playing mechanism built by master clock maker Jurriaan Spraeckel of Zutphen is still in use in the Utrecht Dom Tower and plays the lowest three octaves of the carillon. The F-sharp bourdon sounds the hours, and the B(0) sounds the half-hours.

The following dactylic verse by A. den Besten appears on the bourdon:

DAGELIJKS ROEP IK U TOE,

DAG EN NACHT SPEL IK U HOE LAAT HET IS, HOE VER GIJ ZIJT: LEEF EN HEB  LIEF, HET IS TIJD!

[Daily I call out to you

Day and night I play you what

Time it is, how far you are:

Live and let live, it is time!]

Arie Abbenes is Municipal Carillonneur not only of Utrecht but also in Eindhoven, Oirschot, and Asten. He teaches at the Dutch Carillon School in  Amersfoort. Abbenes studied carillon with Peter Bakker in Hilversum and with Piet van den Broek in Mechelen, and he received the final diploma of the Royal Belgian Carillon School in 1968 with great distinction.

The carillon of the Dom Tower is played every Saturday from 11 am to noon. There is a summer series of evening recitals, Mondays at 8 pm during July and August. Additionally, Utrecht hosts a yearly Holland Early Music Festival at the end of August and beginning of September in which the carillon plays a part.

The Utrecht Dom Tower is also known for its impressive set of 14 tolling bells. While the carillon bells hang at a height of about 230 feet, this peal is at 165 feet. The six heaviest and one of the lighter bells were cast in 1505/1506 by Geert van Wou of Kampen. Van Wou originally cast a diatonic series of 13 bells for the Dom Tower, but in 1664 the smallest seven were sold and melted to finance the new carillon. In 1982 these were replaced by new bells cast by the Eijsbouts Bellfoundry of Asten. The 14th bell is of unknown origin. In this day and age, most tolling bells are swung electrically, but the bells in the Utrecht Dom are rung by hand. This means that some 70,000 pounds of bronze must be brought into motion manually. It takes four people to ring Salvator, the largest bell, which weighs 18,000 pounds. This task has been performed by members of the Utrecht Bell Tollers' Guild since 1979.

Also worthy of mention in Utrecht is the National Museum "Van Speelklok tot Pierement" where all manner of automatic music instruments--from violins and musical clocks to street organs, orchestrions, and dance-hall organs--are displayed and demonstrated.

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