A carillon ( KERR-ə-lon, kə-RIL-yən) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are cast in bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together. They are struck with clappers connected to a keyboard of wooden batons played with the hands and pedals played with the feet. Often housed in bell towers, carillons are usually owned by churches, universities, or municipalities. They can include an automatic system through which the time is announced and simple tunes are played throughout the day.
Harkness Tower is a masonry tower at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Collegiate Gothic Memorial Quadrangle complex completed in 1922, it is named for Charles William Harkness, brother of Yale's largest benefactor, Edward Harkness.
The Yale Memorial Carillon is a carillon of 54 bells in Harkness Tower at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell.
Bok Tower Gardens is a 250-acre (100 ha) contemplative garden and bird sanctuary located atop Iron Mountain, north of Lake Wales, Florida, United States, created by Edward Bok in the 1920s. Formerly known as the Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower, the gardens' attractions include the Singing Tower and its 60-bell carillon, the Bok Exedra, the Pinewood Estate now known as El Retiro, the Pine Ridge Trail, and the Visitor Center.
A chime or set of chimes is a carillon-like instrument, i.e. a pitched percussion instrument consisting of 22 or fewer bells. Chimes are primarily played with a keyboard, but can also be played with an Ellacombe apparatus. Chimes are often automated, in the past with mechanical drums connected to clocks and in the present with electronic action. Bellfounders often did not attempt to tune chime bells to the same precision as carillon bells. Chimes are defined as specifically having fewer than 23 bells to distinguish them from the carillon. American chimes usually have one to one and a half diatonic octaves. According to a recent count, there are over 1,300 existing chimes throughout the world. Almost all are in the Netherlands and the United States, with most of the remainder in Western European countries.
The Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" is a music school in Mechelen, Belgium, that specializes in the carillon. It is the first and largest carillon school in the world. The Belgian government defines it as an "International Higher Institute for the Carillon Arts under the High Protection of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola". The school has trained many of the foremost carillonneurs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and houses a rich archive and library.
The Century Tower is a 157-foot-tall (48 m) bell tower containing a carillon in the center of the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida, United States.
Gordon Frederick Slater is a Canadian carillonneur, conductor, bassoonist and organist. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music of the University of Toronto, he is best known for holding the position of Dominion Carillonneur of Canada from 1977 to 2008. He is only the fourth person to have held that post since its inception in 1927, performing daily recitals on the carillon in the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's national capital.
William Gorham Rice Sr. was an American state and federal government official from Albany, New York, and civic activist engaged in the reform of the civil service system. He was a biographer of Grover Cleveland, and became an authority on carillons in America and Europe and authored three books on the topic.
Ronald Montague Barnes was an American carillonist, composer, and musicologist. He first began playing the carillon as a teenager at his hometown's church. In 1952, at 24 years old, he was appointed to play the carillon at the University of Kansas, where he developed as a musician. He was later the carillonist for the Washington National Cathedral from 1963 to 1975 and the University of California, Berkeley, from 1982 until his retirement in 1995. He was an involved member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, having served as its president, vice president, and several other roles.
Mary Mesquita Dahlmer was an American carillonneur, the first to be employed as one in the United States, and the first woman carillonneur in North America.
Ulla Laage is a Danish carillonneur and composer. She was the first carillonneur to hold a full-time carillon performance position in Denmark, and one of a small number of women to hold a professional carillon post in Europe during the twentieth century.
Adèle Celestine Josephina Colson was the first woman to graduate from the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen, Belgium, and the first woman in the world to earn a professional carillon certification.
Sally Slade Warner was a leading American carillonneur, carillon composer and arranger, and a church organist. She played the carillon at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and the former carillon at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
The De Gruytters carillon book is a manuscript notebook that the Dutch Baroque musician Joannes de Gruytters used for performance on the carillon of the city of Antwerp. It contains 194 pieces of music, mostly arrangements and a few original compositions, in the form of marches, gavottes, arias, gigues, preludes, and minuets, among others.
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) is a professional association of carillonneurs in North America, dedicated to the advancement of the art, literature, and science of the carillon. It was founded in Ottawa, Canada, in 1936 by American and Canadian carillonneurs so that they could keep better contact and develop the musicality of the instrument. It publishes sheet music, two periodicals, and instrument design standards; holds an annual congress for members to share ideas and developments; administers music examinations for its members; and offers grants for various activities concerning the carillon.
Campanology is the scientific and musical study of bells. It encompasses the technology of bells – how they are cast, tuned, and rung – as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bellringing as an art. Articles related to campanology include:
The Queen Fabiola Competition is an international music competition for carillon. It was established in 1987 by the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" to supersede the smaller annual competitions held in Belgium. Named after Queen Fabiola of Belgium, the competition's original patron, it was modeled after the Queen Elizabeth Competition. Its establishment was supported by the Flemish Government, Antwerp Province, and the city of Mechelen.
