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Carillon

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For other uses, see Carillon (disambiguation).
For the study of bells and related musical instruments, see Campanology.
Carillon
Percussion instrument
Classification Percussion
Hornbostel–Sachs classification111.242.2
(Sets of bells or chimes)
The Cast in Bronze traveling carillon at the Colorado Renaissance Festival in June 2008

A carillon (/ˈkær[invalid input: 'ɨ']lɒn/, /ˈkær[invalid input: 'ɨ']ljɒn/, or /kəˈrɪljən/; French: [kaʁijɔ̃]) is a musical instrument that is typically housed in the bell tower (belfry) of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are serially played to produce a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A traditional manual carillon is played by striking a keyboard — the stick-like keys of which are sometimes called batons — with the fists, and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys mechanically activate levers and wires that connect to metal clappers that strike the inside of the bells, allowing the performer on the bells, or carillonneur,[1] to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key.

The carillon is the heaviest of all extant musical instruments;[2] the total weight of bells alone can be 100 tons in the largest instruments.[citation needed]

In German, a carillon is also called a Glockenspiel; while in French, the true glockenspiel (a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned metal bars) is often called a carillon.

History

Carillon bells

In medieval times, swinging bells were first used as a way of notifying people of fires, storms, wars and other events. A ringing of bells from the lowest note to the highest note indicated that an attack had taken place. The use of bells in a musical fashion originated in the 16th century in the Low Countries. The first carillon was in Flanders, where a "fool" performed music on the bells of Oudenaarde Town Hall in 1510 by making use of a baton keyboard. The word "carillon" is from the French "quadrillon", meaning four bells. Bell towers were often used to alert the city of the time of day, and just before the strike of the hour bell a few higher tones were struck to gain the attention of the city-folk. A modern example is the Westminster Chimes, which can be heard in London on Big Ben.[citation needed]

Musical characteristics

The 56-bell carillon at the Plummer Building
Machinery for playing automated music on a carillon, inside The Belfry, Ghent, Belgium.

Since each separate note is produced by an individual bell, a carillon's musical range is determined by the number of bells it has. Different names are assigned to instruments based on the number of bells they comprise:

  • Carillons with between 23 and 27 bells are referred to as two-octave carillons. Players of these instruments often use music arranged specifically for their limited range of notes.
  • A concert carillon has a range of at least four octaves (47 bells). This is sometimes referred to as the "standard-sized" carillon.

The Riverside Carillon in New York City has the largest tuned carillon bell in the world, which sounds the C two octaves below middle C on the piano.

Travelling or mobile carillons are not placed in a tower, but can be transported. Some of them can even be played indoor—in a concert hall or church—like the mobile carillon of Frank Steijns.[3]

The World Carillon Federation defines a carillon as "A musical instrument composed of tuned bronze bells which are played from a baton keyboard. Only those carillons having at least 23 bells be taken into consideration" [4]

The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) defines a carillon as "a musical instrument consisting of at least two octaves of carillon bells arranged in chromatic series and played from a keyboard permitting control of expression through variation of touch. A carillon bell is a cast bronze cup-shaped bell whose partial tones are in such harmonious relationship to each other as to permit many such bells to be sounded together in varied chords with harmonious and concordant effect." The GCNA defines a "traditional carillon" as one played from a carillon mechanical (not electrified) baton keyboard; a "non-traditional carillon" as a musical instrument with bells, but played by automated mechanical or electro-mechanical means, or from an electrical or electronic keyboard.[citation needed]

The carillonneur or carillonist is the title of the musician who plays the carillon. The carillonneur/carillonist usually sits in a cabin beneath the bells and presses down, with a loosely closed fist, on a series of baton-like keys arranged in the same pattern as a piano keyboard. The batons are almost never played with the fingers as one does a piano, though this is sometimes used as a special carillon playing technique. The keys activate levers and wires that connect directly to the bells' clappers; thus, as with a piano, the carillonneur can vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key. In addition to the manual keys, the heavier bells are also played with a pedal keyboard. These notes can either be played with the hands or the feet.

Poorly tuned bells often give an "out of tune" impression and also can be out of tune with themselves. This is due to the unusual harmonic characteristics of foundry bells, which have strong overtones above and below the fundamental frequency.[5] Foundry bells are tuned to have the following set of partials (overtones):[citation needed]

  • Octave above prime
  • Fifth
  • Minor third
  • Prime and strike tone resultant
  • Hum tone (an octave below prime)
Carillonneur playing Oh Shenandoah.

There is no standard pitch range for the carillon. In general, a concert carillon will have a minimum of forty-eight bells. The range of any given instrument usually depends on funds available for the fabrication and installation of the instrument: more money allows more bells to be cast, especially the larger, more costly ones. Older carillons can be transposing instruments, generally transposing upward. Most modern instruments sound at concert pitch. A carillon clavier has both a manual and a pedal keyboard.

Carillon music is typically written on two staves. Notes written in the bass clef are generally played by the feet. Notes written in the treble clef are played with the hands. Pedals range from the lowest note (the bourdon) and may continue up to two and half octaves. In the North American Standard keyboard, all notes can be played on the manual.

Because of the acoustic peculiarities of a carillon bell (the prominence of the minor third, and the lack of damping of sound), music written for other instruments needs to be arranged specifically for the carillon.

The combination of carillon and other instruments, while possible, is generally not a happy marriage. The carillon is generally far too loud to perform with most other concert instruments. The great exceptions to this are some late twentieth- and early twenty-first century compositions involving electronic media and carillon. In these compositions, sound amplification is able to match the extreme dynamic range of the carillon and, in the case of sensitive composers, even the most delicate effects are possible. Brass music is often heard together with a (traveling) carillon.

Varia

Salzburg carillon control drum. There are 7940 holes where screws can be inserted.

Composers for carillon

Notable musicians

Instrumental (1927)
O Canada and the Royal Anthem, God Save the King, performed by Percival Price using carillon bells at the Peace Tower in Ottawa
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Instruments by country

A carillon keyboard
Main article: List of carillons

Overview of highest concentrations of carillons (as defined by the World Carillon Federation) (data September 2006):[citation needed]

Region Surface area
(km²) 		Number of
carillons 		Concentration
per 1000 km²[citation needed]
Netherlands 41,526 182 4.383
Belgium 30,528 89 2.915
Flanders and Brussels 13,683 66 4.824
Wallonia 16,844 23 1.365
Nord, France[9] 5,743 15 2.612
Côte d'Or, France[10] 8,763 5 0.571
Denmark 43,098 23 0.534
for comparison only:
USA 9,631,420 164 0.017
Australia 7,741,220 3 0.0004

Schools

Carillon schools include the Netherlands Carillon School[12] and the first international school, the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen, Belgium.

In North America, one can study the carillon at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (which is home to two of only twenty-three grand carillons in the world), the University of Florida, the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, Missouri State University, and Berea College, Berea, KY, all which offer complete courses of study. One can also take private lessons at many carillon locations, and there are universities that offer limited credit for carillon performance, such as Clemson University, University of Kansas, Iowa State University, and Marquette University.

The George Cadbury Carillon School was opened in 2006 and is the only carillon school in the United Kingdom.[13]

Another international carillon school, the Scandinavian Carillon School[14] in Løgumkloster, Denmark, was established back in 1979. It serves mainly Scandinavians, but does also cooperate with other carillon schools at university level with student exchange.

A number of universities and undergraduate institutions also make use of carillons as part of their tradition. SUNY Geneseo’s carillon sounds traditional clock bell tones every hour, along with various songs, everything from classical to pop, being played throughout the day. Princeton University houses a carillon of 67 bells which can be heard every Sunday afternoon and most Wednesday evenings with performances from Robin Austin, his students, and guest artists.[15] Smith College in Northampton Massachusetts completed its carillon of 48 bells in 2009, ninety years after the first bells were hung in 1919.[16] Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont also has a 48 bell carillon, which is located in the steeple of the college's Mead Memorial Chapel.[17]

Good illustrations of the tradition includes Denny Chimes[18] at the University of Alabama, Sather Tower[19] at Cal Berkeley, and the Rockefeller Carillon at the University of Chicago — the latter of which is the largest single musical instrument in the world.[20] The newest addition to the list is the Bell Tower at the University of South Alabama[21] which has a web cam of current construction.

See also

References

  1. ^ in Australia the carillonnist
  2. ^ The Mark II and Mark III Telharmonium, an early Synthesizer, were each twice as heavy as the largest carillon ever made (200 tons as compared to 100 tons).[citation needed]
  3. ^ Frank Steijns.
  4. ^ Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.
  5. ^ http://www.hibberts.co.uk/tuning.htm
  6. ^ De Zingende Toren Template:Nl icon
  7. ^ Cultuurcampus Vleuterweide Template:Nl icon
  8. ^ http://boktowergardens.org/the-tower/carillonneur/
  9. ^ Département du Nord in France, bordering Belgium and once part of the County of Flanders.
  10. ^ Département Côte d'Or in France. In the 15–16th century, the economic heartland of the Duchy of Burgundy was in the Low Countries, particularly Flanders and Brabant. The distant court in Dijon economically and culturally outshone the French one and was located in the present French département Côte d'Or within the région de Bourgogne.
  11. ^ "Carillon", Chapel, USA: Duke.
  12. ^ Utrecht School of the Arts, Faculty of Music.
  13. ^ Carillon Summer series, IA State, 2008.
  14. ^ KMS, DK: Locus Dei.
  15. ^ The Class of 1892 Bells: Princeton University Carillon, USA: Princeton.
  16. ^ Long-awaited Bell to Complete Smith College Carillon, Smith College, 16 March 2009.
  17. ^ http://community.middlebury.edu/~carillon/mca.html
  18. ^ "Denny Chimes", Tour stops, Alabama, USA: UA.
  19. ^ "Campanile", Landmarks, Berkeley heritage.
  20. ^ "Carillon", Rockfeller, U Chicago.
  21. ^ "Bell tower", World Wide Web camera, South Alabama.

Further reading

  • Boogert, Loek, André Lehr, and Jacques Maassen. 45 Years of Dutch Carillons, 1945–1990. Asten, the Netherlands: Netherlands Carillon Society, 1992. ISBN 90-900345-0-1.
  • Huybens, Gilbert. Carillons et Tours de Belgique. Ghent, Belgium: Ludion Editions, 1994. ISBN 90-5544-019-1.
  • Keldermans, Karel, and Linda Keldermans. Carillon: The Evolution of a Concert Instrument in North America. Springfield, IL: Springfield Park District, 1996. ISBN 0-9652252-0-8.
  • Lehr, André. The Art of the Carillon in the Low Countries. Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo, 1991. ISBN 90-209-1917-2.
  • Swager, Brian. A history of the carillon: its origins, development, and evolution as a musical instrument. Document (D. Mus.). Indiana University, 1993.
  • Willis, Stephen Charles. Bells through the Ages: from the Percival Price Collection = Les Cloches à travers les siècles: provenant du fonds Percival Price. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1986. 34 p., ill. with b&w photos. N.B.: Prepared on the occasion of an exhibition of the same title, based on the collection of bell and carillon related material and documentation, of former Dominion Carilloneur (of Canadian Parliament, Ottawa), Percival Price, held at the National Library of Canada (as then named), 12 May to 14 Sept. 1986; some copies come with the guide to the taped dubbings of the recordings played as background music to the displays, as technically prepared by Gilles Saint-Laurent and listed by Stephen Charles Willis, both of the library's Music Division; English and French texts respectively divided into upper and lower portions of each page. ISBN 0-662-54295-9
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