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Playing the Carillon: An Introductory Method
by
John
Gouwens
Carillonneur, The Culver Academies; Culver, Indiana
Visiting Lecturer in Carillon, Ball State University; Muncie, Indiana
Published
by The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
Copyright details
Most of the music published herein is copyrighted by The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America; the Guild retains all rights in those musical selections. The text and John Gouwens’s compositions are copyrighted by John Gouwens, 2002. The revised edition of Ronald Barnes’s Sarabande is the property of the Anton Brees Carillon Library and is here published with the permission of that institution. Further copying of these materials is in violation of the copyright laws.
Table
of Contents
I. Introduction 1
II. Position – Before You Play 2
III. Very Basic Playing – Striving for a Beautiful Tone 3
IV. Handling and Other Considerations for Controlled, Relaxed Playing 4
Musical Selections: Sonata for a Musical Clock, by George Frideric Handel 7
Étude, by Gary White 8
Three pieces for musical clocks, by Handel 9
V. Pedals 12
Musical Selections: Scherzetto, by John Gouwens 13
Prelude No. 2, by Theophil Rusterholz 14
Art Song, by John Gouwens 16
Prelude, by John Gouwens 17
Polonaise, by John Gouwens 18
VI. Chords 19
Musical Selections: Pedal Aria, by John Gouwens 20
Sarabande, by Ronald Barnes 22
Slow Dance, by Roy Hamlin Johnson 24
VII. The Price/Gerken Approach to Notation 26
Musical Selections: Four pieces for musical clocks, by Franz Joseph Haydn 27
VIII. Shaping a Phrase; Introduction to Trills 32
Musical Selections: Air, by John Gouwens 33
Ceciliana, by Joannes De Gruÿtters 34
IX. Pianissimo Dynamics; Rhythmic Freedom; Arpeggios 36
Musical Selections: Pastel in Bronze, by Albert Gerken 38
Arabesque, by Emilien Allard 40
X. Tremolandi 44
Musical Selection: Preludium in the Flemish Style, by John Gouwens 46
XI. Additional Advice, for When You Are Further Along 48
– Repertoire –
Jean Miller: “Air” & “Lullaby” (from Three Short Pieces) 50
Leen ’t Hart: “Prayer” (from Five Short Pieces) 52
Roy Hamlin Johnson: In dulci jubilo (Three Settings) 54
(Roy Hamlin Johnson: Cradle Song – inserted here to place In dulci jubilo III on facing pages) 57)
Dieudonné Raijck: Andante (trans. Albert Gerken) 60
Joseph-Hector Fiocco: “Andante,” from Suite No. 1 for harpsichord (trans. Albert Gerken) 62
John Courter: “Sonorities” (from Suite No. 1) 64
John Courter: “In paradisum” (from Gregorian Triptych) 66
John Pozdro: “Intermezzo” (from Triptych) 68
XII. Notes on the Composers and the Music 70
Appendix A: A Short Overview of the History of Carillon Music 75
Appendix
B: Writing for the Carillon
85
Samples of the Text
The following are excerpts from the larger book.
All text and photographs are copyrighted by John Gouwens, 2002.
I. Introduction
(Technique)
The carillon is an interesting hybrid. It is a keyboard instrument, though the keyboard is of a larger scale than any other modern keyboard instrument. (Some early forms of the pipe organ are believed to have had a keyboard not too dissimilar to the carillon keyboard in terms of the manner of playing and key size.) It is also a percussion instrument, even more so than the piano, since its action does not involve an escapement coming between the keys and the clappers. It is a given that a good keyboard background (piano definitely – organ background is also a plus but not necessarily essential) is a pre-requisite for learning the carillon. An instrument that the whole neighborhood is going to hear is not the place to learn basic musicianship, after all. This book is intended to guide the student with a good keyboard background toward learning to play the carillon musically, with skill and control.
A good carillon technique should be efficient, producing excellent results without unnecessary exertion by the player. A good carillon technique should also be directed toward producing a beautiful sound from the bells, with a broad dynamic range, and precise control of trills, tremolos, and other decorative figures.
It is important to be aware that carillon mechanisms can behave so differently from one instrument to another that it is often necessary to modify one’s technique to get the best results out of a given instrument. However, the techniques covered in this book will generally work well on most carillons.
There certainly is more than one way to play the carillon well. Each individual student will eventually develop his or her own way of playing. This book is designed to teach a basic technique that will provide a solid foundation for playing. IT IS STILL JUST AS IMPORTANT AS EVER TO HAVE THE GUIDANCE OF A GOOD TEACHER. Once one has learned the rules, one may feel free to break them, or at least adjust them to one’s own needs and to the instruments encountered.
* * * * * * * *
III. Very Basic Playing – Striving for a Beautiful
Tone
For most playing, the hands should be positioned in a loose fist, with the thumb positioned above the index finger. The hand should be relaxed. The purpose of the fist position is that the other fingers support the fifth finger, which is the finger usually contacting the key. The knuckles should be more or less aligned, so that none of the fingers protrude. A finger that sticks out can create the risk of accidentally hitting a neighboring key (which can be painful as well as being a musical problem). On some hands, the arrangement of the knuckles may be best staggered slightly, since the knuckle is often the thickest part of the finger. A thumb pointing up in the air is a sign of tension. A player will have better control and better stamina if his or her thumb is relaxed, resting over the index finger. Different carillonneurs can quite successfully use slightly different contact points on the hand, so again there isn’t just one way, but contacting the key top with the second (middle) knuckle of the fifth finger probably provides the best control. Since it is often necessary to move rapidly from one note to another, it makes sense to lead with the “point” of that knuckle, and get there rapidly. (See Figure 1 below.) As much as possible, the hands should be prepared and at rest atop the keys before commencing the stroke. For playing at mezzo piano or louder, one should begin the stroke with just a slight “forward” motion, mostly meeting the weight of the action and clapper with the weight of one’s arms. Since the player normally sits at an incline, the weight of the arms will naturally tend to move forward. The key and the hand must start in motion together. Players who come crashing down on the keys subject the instrument and their hands to considerable punishment, and the resulting sound is often harsh and ugly. It is worth understanding why. Between the key and the clapper are several components of the mechanism. Several feet of wire (or, in a few newer instruments, carbon fibre rods) make most of the connections, and along the way there is usually either a roller-bar or a “directed quadrant.” (See the next paragraph for an explanation about that.) If a key is suddenly jarred into motion, that action invariably causes a reaction, as the shock wave is telegraphed through the rest of the mechanism. The resulting vibration effectively shortens the length of the wire (or rod – it happens with those as well), causing the clapper to dwell on the bell too long and to create a harsh, metallic effect as the clapper bounces on the side of the bell. It also interferes with the continued ringing of the bell after it has been played. As several of carillonneurs have said, you should “imagine you have the hammer in your hand.” On percussion instruments, good players make a point of “drawing the tone out of the instrument” by getting the mallets or sticks off the instrument immediately after playing a note; the same principle applies just as well to the carillon. (Unlike playing the organ, one should NOT hold the key down longer on longer note values; once a note is sounded, the player should immediately prepare the next one.)
To explain the transmission in a little more detail, in general, most carillon transmissions are one of two types. In the roller-bar system, the vertical wire (coming up from the key) connects to an arm, which is mounted on a horizontal roller-bar – essentially an axle – which rotates when the note is played. The roller bar transfers the movement closer to the bell; another arm, on the other end of the roller-bar, makes the connection to the clapper via a short horizontal wire. (See Figures 2 and 3 below.) The transmission bar system works especially well with bells hung in straight rows and has the advantage of being potentially easier to service, with all the wires being parallel. (Note access platform in Figure 2.)
Figure
1: Basic Hand Position
Figures 2& 3: Roller-Bar Transmission (Culver)
Figure
4: Directed Quadrant (Ball State)
Figure 5: Radial Transmission (Ball State)
The “directed quadrant” (or “directed square”) is used in the “radial transmission” system, and eliminates the roller-bar. The vertical wire connects to an arm that is welded to a center pivot, which is also welded to another lever; it functions as one piece. (See Figure 4.) The horizontal wire coming from the upper lever goes in whatever direction is necessary to reach the clapper of its bell. If the bells are arranged in circles, so that the bells in a given range are equidistant, such an arrangement can work very well. (See Figure 5.) When a radial transmission is misapplied to a carillon where the bells are still hung in long, straight rows, much sloppiness is introduced due to long wires (covering distances a roller-bar would do more solidly) and to the irregularities resulting from some bells being much closer to their quadrants than others. With wires going in all directions, maintenance access can also be a challenge in a radial transmission system. Thus, the layout of the bells is an important factor in determining which system should be used. If the design is right, the radial transmission is superior, in that it eliminates the sluggishness introduced by the mass of roller-bars. Some players prefer the “feel” of one type of transmission over the other. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages. (Some carillons use a hybrid of the two systems.)
The hand and the key should build up momentum together. What happens next depends on which notes are needed next. If the same bell is to be played again immediately, the hand should follow the key down, giving a “tap” at the bottom of the stroke, controlling the return of the key and “catching” it, either for a shorter stroke the next time or to prevent the key bouncing at the top. If a different note is needed next, the hand should give the necessary push and use that key as a “diving board” to get to the next one. If the same note will not be repeated immediately, it is preferable NOT to keep the hand on the key all the way to the bottom of the stroke. Once the action is in motion, inertia will finish the stroke. This allows the clapper to rebound off the bell more cleanly, and it also frees the hand to move to the next note. In general, the louder the note, the less you have to follow the key down. For very soft playing, a slower stroke is involved, and it is therefore necessary to follow the key the whole way down, exercising special care to get off the key and to allow it to come back up immediately.
The wrist is involved throughout, but most of the effort should consist of directing the weight of the arm through the wrist and hands to the keys. In louder playing, where the stroke must ultimately be rapid, it is often effective to begin the stroke with a more conspicuous forward motion, which will cause a more gradual acceleration at the beginning. It is much like the advice many piano teachers have given (not the least of whom was Rachmaninoff) in telling the student to “play into the piano.” On either instrument, the goal is a warm, resonant tone. As with piano technique there are occasions when a snappier “staccato” touch, with more emphasis on the wrist, is used, but on carillon in particular, it is more of a special effect: the resulting sound, particularly in the treble range, leads to a shorter decay time in the bells. The latter touch would be used when a more crisp effect is sought, particularly in music involving harmonic changes that would otherwise sound cloudy. Staccato touch is also often necessary for very rapid playing, especially at soft dynamic levels. The difference in the sound between the “staccato” touch and the more conventional arm-weight touch is often subtle. There are three examples in this book in which a staccato touch is useful: the Scherzetto (page 13), Polonaise (page 18), and the second In dulci jubilo setting (page 56).
* * * * * * * *
V. Pedals
It is certainly an adjustment for anybody (perhaps especially for organists) to learn to play expressively on the pedals, but it is absolutely essential for playing the carillon musically. Usually, in a scalewise passage of all “white key” notes, it works best to have each foot play several notes in a row rather than to try to alternate feet. In cases where there are some “black key” notes, someone with smaller feet may be inclined to alternate feet more often, whereas someone with larger feet may still be more likely to play several consecutive notes with one foot. (It is simply more awkward for someone with larger feet to alternate frequently.) In the older European tradition, the tendency was to play notes from “a” below “middle c” with the left foot, and “a#” on up with the right; on a North American console, the pedal range is two octaves or more (rather than 1½ octaves, as in the European keyboards for so many years). More to the point, the choice of which foot to use is largely a matter of where the feet are most active in a given piece (or passage). Both feet can and should be used in any area of the pedal range, depending on the piece. Also, if there is a passage in which it is desirable to use both feet in either the higher or lower range of the pedalboard, one should feel free to slide up or down the bench. A player will definitely have better control if his or her body is relatively centered around the range of notes being played, especially since leg weight should be used in playing the pedals. The examples on the next few pages provide a simple introduction to using the pedals.
With the pedals, the weight of the leg is used to meet the weight of the clappers and action. The ankle is more of a shock absorber in this case. As with the hands, meeting weight with weight (primarily, at least) will produce the best tone. Unlike organ technique (particularly as taught in the French tradition – Lemmens, Widor, Vierne, Guilmant, Bonnet, Dupré, and on to Harold Gleason, Mildred Andrews, and their students), carillon pedal technique does not involve keeping the knees together and angling the toes outward to reach the various notes. Carillon pedal technique never involves use of the heel (except for special tone cluster effects). The knee should be essentially straight above the pedals, so that the leg weight moves in the same direction as the pedal travels. (Note that on AGO-standard organ pedalboards, the highest and lowest pedals themselves actually travel outward when depressed. Carillon pedals travel straight down – a very important difference.) An organist has the advantage in approaching the carillon of having developed good foot coordination, but the manner of playing carillon pedals is totally different, as the player is responsible for tone and dynamics (unlike organ pedalling). One must always listen for tone, balance, and phrasing.
In approaching the carillon pedals for the first time, as with organ study, you should at first try playing with the pedals alone, then hands alone, and finally together. (As with any rudimentary note-learning practice, it should be done on the practice console, not broadcast throughout the neighborhood.) It usually works best to take just a line or two at a time. The key is to learn to prepare your feet (as with your hands) in advance. DO NOT hold the pedals down! As with the manual, if you are going to re-strike a note immediately, it may be useful to “catch” it on the way up to arrest the tendency for the action to “bounce” at the top. Otherwise, as soon as you have played a note, you should move your foot to the next note it is to play. Practical handling and pedalling have been provided in the following pieces; you may amend them if you wish, but be sure you write in those amendments and FOLLOW them. If you don’t use consistent handling and pedalling, you have no way of preparing notes in advance, and the result considerably compromises your control.
VI. Chords
Playing chords in the manuals on the carillon usually involves opening one or both hands, playing one note with the thumb and the other with the remaining fingers. It is generally agreed that the usual limit for one hand to reach is a perfect fourth; but inevitably there are a few examples where a larger reach is desirable, if the player can manage it. When both notes to be played in one hand are “black” keys or “white” keys, it is usually easiest to “reach around” both keys (if possible), assuming a flatter position for wider intervals. (See Figure 6.) In cases where the thumb plays a black key and the remaining fingers play a white key, the white key note is best approached at an oblique angle by the fingers. (See Figure 7.) If the thumb is playing a white key and the other fingers a black key, the hand essentially “stands” on the thumb. (See Figure 8.)
Figure 6: Hand position for chords where all notes are “black” or all are “white”
Figures 7 & 8: Hand positions for “black and white” key chords
For players whose hand size prohibits simultaneous sounding of the notes of a given chord, there are various broken chord patterns that may be used to sound all the notes. (See Section VIII, pages 36–7.) Composers and editors sometimes will indicate which combinations of notes should be played together by one hand with a left or right hand bracket. Unfortunately, it has not yet become a consistent practice in published carillon music to place the bracket on the left side of the chord for left hand notes and on the right side for right hand notes. Normally, the intended handling is obvious, but the player may often want to make adjustments to those indications.
Both of the next two musical examples involve harmonic intervals within one hand. The first of these, the Pedal Aria, is a piece where the top voice of the manual part is melodic, but there is also an independent melody in the pedals; one should listen to BOTH melodies, and shape them accordingly. The third musical example, Slow Dance, is a simple piece, inspired by the piano Gymnopédies of Erik Satie. The pedal part defines the downbeat (which should be more a matter of rhythmic weight than dynamic emphasis); the melody is in the top voice. The balance must be maintained throughout the crescendi and diminuendi (both written and implied). As with good organ and piano technique, one should prepare hands and feet on the keys of the next notes as soon as possible. In this case, it is probably best to prepare both feet at the same time, right after the second of each pair of notes.
* * * * * * * *
– [Page] 75 –
Appendix A: A Short Overview of the History of Carillon Music
A Carillon
is 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.
– from the Articles of Incorporation of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
Origins and Early Collections
The carillon has a unique history, in that it began as an automatic instrument. In the early Renaissance, people depended on the clock in the tower of the town hall or cathedral to announce the time of day. (People of that time rarely had clocks in their homes.) A signal was needed to announce that the hour strike was about to begin, so that townspeople could accurately tell the time from the striking of the hour. (The Westminster chime tune serves the same purpose in many clocks today.) At first a simple pattern was sounded on one or two smaller bells. Eventually, larger sets of bells were installed; and more complex tunes were rendered on them as towns competed with one another to have the largest, heaviest, or the most elaborate clock chimes.
The tune played before the hour strike (called the “voorslag” in Dutch, meaning “fore-strike”), was adjustable in many clocks by re-setting the positions of movable pins on a playing drum. (The cylinder music box descended from this mechanism.) Eventually, people began to recognize the potential of being able to play more on the bells than the limited selections of the clock drums. The earliest written record of bells being played from some crude form of keyboard is found in the archives of Antwerp Cathedral (Belgium) where, in 1482, a small set of bells (8-10 bells) was connected to a mechanism with “ropes and sticks,” and that tunes were played on these bells. The term keyboard was first used in this sense for two sets of clock chimes that were fitted with same in 1510: one in Lübeck, Germany (seven bells) and the other in Oudenaarde, Belgium (nine bells). These three instruments are the earliest documented examples of manually-played chimes, the first step in the development of carillons. Gradually, better bells were designed and made. A particularly high level of quality was reached in the 17th Century by François and Pieter Hemony (1609–1667 and 1619–1680, respectively), many of whose carillons survive today, in various states of preservation. (See page 1 for more about the Hemony brothers.) It is important to note that prior to the 20th Century, bellfounders were responsible only for making the bells. The frame, clappers, action, and consoles were contracted separately from other, often local, craftsmen, making it nearly impossible to determine many consistent technical details of the historic carillons and how they were played.
Remarkably little actual carillon music for live performance has been preserved from the first three centuries of the existence of the instrument. As with the early history of the pipe organ, the early carillonneurs relied mostly on improvisation skills in their performances. There were several collections of music for the carillon from the Baroque period which are believed to be collections of “versteek” music. The Dutch word “versteek” means to re-pin the playing drum (literally, “re-stick” [the pins]), but its usage has evolved to a broader definition, which also refers to the music written for an automatic system. Many clocks were made to play shorter tunes or excerpts on the quarter-hours, with more time allotted on the half hour, and more time yet on the hour. In a few rare cases, a very short figure (one measure or so) is played halfway between the quarter hours (:07.5 and :22.5 for example). Such is the case in Antwerp, Belgium, where the ancient mechanism still plays the tunes and strikes the hour. (Today the timekeeping is done by modern electronic equipment, however.) Versteek collections include: a book by Theodoor De Sany (1648, Brussels, Belgium); a book by Phillip Wyckaert (dated 1681, Ghent, Belgium); a collection of booklets by Johannes and Frederik Berghuis (father and son, Delft, The Netherlands, late 18th through early 19th centuries); and a book by Johann-Epraim Eggert (Danzig, East Prussia; now Gdansk, Poland, 1784). A few of the selections in these collections, particularly the Berghuis repertoire, were intended for manual performance, but most were clearly for the versteek. Many selections were so short (some being only eight measures long) as to be more appropriate for sounding the quarter-hour or half-hour than for a live performance. Also, many of the selections, particularly in the Wyckaert and De Sany collections, were awkward, and in some cases impossible, to perform manually. (Wyckaert was not a carillonneur, but attended to the versteek because the Ghent City Carillonneur did not wish to be involved with it.)
Theodorus Everaerts (1690–1740), Carillonneur of Antwerp Cathedral from 1720 to 1739, compiled a little book of simple pieces into a collection called Beyaert 1728 (an older spelling of Beiaard, the Dutch word for carillon). Most of the selections in Beyaert 1728 are very short, often of just eight measures. Their brevity may suggest that the collection was intended for automatic, rather than manual, playing; however, some technical details in the music support the argument that it was indeed a collection of music for manual performance. This collection is interesting for its historical aspects rather than for its musical content. In 1780, André Jean Baptiste Bonaventure Dupont, carillonneur of St. Bertin Abbey, in Saint Omer, France, assembled a collection of melodies to play on the carillon. The bass and harmony were left for the performer to improvise.
All of the above collections contain arrangements of church music (hymns, plainchants), popular songs, and of instrumental or vocal music. None are free compositions conceived originally for the bells.
Joannes de Gruÿtters (1709–1772), carillonneur at Antwerp Cathedral (Belgium), compiled a Beÿaertboek (Carillon Book) in 1746, a collection of 194 pieces. Some selections are quite simple, but many require a rather advanced technique. The Carillon Book is the earliest collection of music for the carillon that most experts in the field agree was intended for live performance by a carillonneur. Many of the pieces are anonymous (unidentified, at least so far), some being settings of folk songs. Of the selections in which the composers are identified, a number of them were arrangements of instrumental music by colleagues de Gruÿtters knew in Antwerp (violinist Jacques-Henri de Croes, cathedral choir director Joseph-Hector Fiocco, cathedral music director Willem De Fesch, cathedral organist Dieudonné Raijck). The collection also includes arrangements of compositions by better-known composers from the Baroque era (Corelli, Couperin, Locatelli, Vivaldi). De Gruÿtters signed five pieces as his own. These, plus pieces in the collection by Boudewijn Schepers, carillonneur of Aalst (Belgium) and by Jan Jozef Colfs, carillonneur of Mechelen, stand out as the earliest extant compositions written specifically for the carillon.
Another manuscript of music for the carillon, dating from 1756, was assembled in Leuven (also called Louvain, in Belgium). This collection includes some extensive sets of variations on familiar tunes of the day, such as Cecilia and the 17th-century Spanish tune La Folia de España.
* * * * * * *
The Nineteenth Century
The Nineteenth Century was a “dark age” for the carillon in many ways. The death of some of the best founders, the Napoleonic wars, and the gradual move away from meantone temperament all were probably contributing factors to the decline. The casting of acceptably tuned bells became a lost art. Van Aerschodt, a son-in-law of the van den Gheÿns, continued to operate the foundry but produced a poor quality of bells; Claude Fremy, successor to the Hemony brothers, fared no better. Attempts to build new carillons were rare in any country.
Compositions for the carillon during this period were few indeed. Joannes Franciscus Volckerick (1815–1897) was carillonneur of Antwerp Cathedral from 1834 to 1863. In 1841, he composed a set of twelve Préludes mélodiques, really the only known carillon compositions extant from the middle of the Nineteenth Century. They are peculiar, improvisatory, thoroughly romantic pieces, but awkwardly written for the instrument. It is worth noting also that the modulations and occasional chromatic figurations are not well suited for a carillon tuned in mean tone (which includes the fine Hemony carillons of Antwerp). Volckerick also made many arrangements of music from the orchestral repertoire and from theatrical works. Later in the Nineteenth Century, Johan A.H. Wagenaar I, carillonneur of Utrecht (Netherlands) from 1869–1894, wrote six compositions. His son and grandson succeeded him, and each also did some composing for carillon. (The Wagenaar “dynasty” of Utrecht carillonneurs lasted until 1954!)
The Chime in America
In North America, particularly from the middle of the Nineteenth Century, the forerunner of the carillon was the “chime.” The term “chime,” among other meanings, refers to a set of bells smaller than the 23-bell minimum required by the formal definition of a carillon; usually, a chime has eight to fifteen bells in a diatonic series. These instruments are generally used for playing melodies only, and are played from a “chimestand,” a console in some ways resembling a carillon console, but with much larger keys (more like pump handles), and a key travel of 10 inches or more. In the 19th-Century chimes, the action usually consisted of chains and pulleys, with an adjustable leather strap as a crude substitute for a turnbuckle. In most cases, little or no effort was made to tune chime bells, so the pitches (to say nothing of the partials!) were often rough and approximate. Most chimes were made in America.
The chime market was dominated by two bellfoundries in upstate New York. Andrew Meneely founded what eventually came to be called Meneely & Company in 1826 in Watervliet, New York (which was at one time called West Troy). The other bellfoundry was founded by Clinton Meneely (of the same family) in 1870, situated in Troy, New York, directly across the Hudson river from the older foundry, eventually called Meneely Bell Company. Several hundred chimes were made and installed in churches, universities, and civic buildings. Many are still in existence. A few were incorporated as part of new carillons, with varying degrees of success. Meneely of Watervliet did tune some of their bells by the second quarter of the twentieth century, and also built four carillons. Meneely of Troy made no effort to tune their bells. Both companies closed their doors in 1952. Other American bellfounders that made chimes included McShane of Baltimore, Maryland; van Duzen of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Stuckstede of Saint Louis, Missouri. A few chimes were also imported from English bellfounders Mears & Stainbank (later Whitechapel), Taylor, and Gillett & Johnston.
Four sets of bells in a chromatic series were installed in the United States, none of which were well enough tuned to fit the formal definition of a carillon, but which do represent historic precursors of the carillon in North America. The first two instruments were cast by the Bollée foundry, of Le Mans, France. Their largest effort was a 56-bell “carillon” (also poorly tuned) in Chalons-sur-Marne, France, which still exists. The priests that founded the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana) were from Le Mans, and they ordered a 23-bell carillon from Bollée, installed in 1856.
The tuning of the Notre Dame instrument (still extant) was certainly not to the standards expected in a proper carillon, but it is an important instrument in that it was the first set of bells in a chromatic series to be installed in the Western Hemisphere. However, until the middle of the 20th Century, this instrument was playable only from an automatic drum or, awkwardly, by pulling on pegs protruding from the automatic mechanism. Bollée installed a 43-bell instrument at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Buffalo, New York in 1870, also played from an automatic system. That instrument no longer exists. The third instrument was a 25-bell instrument installed in 1882 by van Aerschodt of Leuven, Belgium for Holy Trinity Church (Episcopal), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was played from a crudely constructed carillon console – the first example of a carillon console in North America – the remains of which are now preserved in the Verdin Clock and Bell Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Subsequently, it was played for many years from an electric keyboard, but has recently been connected to a new, traditional carillon console.
The last such installation was a 26-bell instrument by the Paccard Bellfoundry of Annecy, France, installed at the Miraculous Medal Shrine, Saint Vincent’s Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though superior to the Bollée and van Aerschodt instruments, the tuning of the instrument at Saint Vincent’s originally fell short of the standard required of a carillon; furthermore, it was played from a “Maisonnave” machine, a large and noisy apparatus involving a revolving drum, heavy springs and pegs that made it possible to play the bells from a piano-type keyboard, albeit with no dynamic control. (A slightly older Paccard carillon with a “Maisonnave” playing system still exists, and is still in use, at the church of Notre-Dame in Buglose, France.) In the 1950s, the Paccard instrument was renovated and enlarged to its present 47-bell size, and is played from a traditional carillon console today.
The Rediscovery of the Secrets of Bell
Tuning and the Modern Carillon
A catalyst for the modern development of bell tuning was the work of an English clergyman, Canon A.B. Simpson. Unhappy with the poor tuning he heard in church bells in England (change-ringing peals and other swinging applications – the carillon was almost non-existent in Great Britain at the time), Simpson wrote in 1894 to the Taylor Bellfoundry (Loughborough, Leicestershire) explaining his ideas about bell tuning. He found a receptive audience in the Taylors, as the company had already begun studying representative European bells, and they were starting to develop their tuning skills. The Taylor company began to maintain tuning records for the hum, prime, tierce, and nominal of their bells in that same year. Simpson published two articles on the subject of bell tuning, which were published in Pall Mall Magazine in 1895 and 1896. He described in detail the tuning qualities found in the best European bells, including those by Hemony, outlining the five principal partials (see page 2). Simpson issued a challenge to English bellfounders to produce bells in which at least the octaves (hum tone, prime, and nominal) were in tune with each other. Concurrently, the John Taylor Bellfoundry acquired new (and better) tuning forks and a tuning machine for bells, and put these theories into practice. The Taylor company was the successor to a foundry begun in the Fourteenth Century; members of the Taylor family had been in charge since 1784. The tuning activity was a new development, however. The first set of scientifically-tuned bells in the United States was a ten-bell chime cast by Taylor, installed in 1899 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State instrument was gradually enlarged to its present size, a carillon of 50 bells. The first “modern” carillon, tuned to equal temperament, was a 40-bell instrument the Taylor company built and installed in a tower at their works in 1904.
Taylor’s chief rival was Gillett & Johnston, of Croydon, England, who began tuning their bells in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. The Gillett & Johnston company began as a manufacturer of tower clocks in 1844 (under the name Gillett & Bland), and originally ordered bells for their installations from other companies, particularly from van Aerschodt in Belgium. In 1877, Arthur Johnston joined the firm and expanded the business to include its own bellfoundry. It was Arthur Johnston’s son Cyril (1884–1950), who brought their bell tuning to a high level of quality. He was the key figure in the creation of that firm’s many carillons. Though the Gillett & Johnston bellfoundry closed in 1957, the company continues its activity today as a maker of tower and commercial clocks and clock dials.
The first two carillons in North America to meet present-day standards for tuning were installed, respectively, by Gillett & Johnston (Metropolitan United Church, Toronto) and Taylor (Our Lady of Good Voyage Catholic Church, Gloucester, Massachusetts), both in 1922. These two firms dominated the market until World War II. Both firms also cast many carillons for the European market. In most cases, the bells were supplied to European companies, who then built the rest of the instrument. For the North American and British markets, both companies designed and built the entire instrument; also, both companies consulted with performers in an ongoing effort to build instruments that would respond to their musical needs. As a result, the carillon underwent a considerable evolution during the 20th Century in North America, emerging as a responsive, sensitive concert instrument.
Continental European Bellfounders Enter the Carillon
Market
The Eijsbouts company, of Asten, The Netherlands, a maker of tower clocks dating back to 1872, installed carillons as well as chimes by Gillett and Johnston for the European market until the beginning of World War II. (The Amsterdam clockmaker Addicks had a similar collaboration with Taylor.) Throughout history, bellfounders have been called upon to make cannons and other implements of war; the bronze in existing bells became a valuable commodity in wartime. The destruction of many carillons in World War II, particularly through the confiscation of bells during the German occupation, opened a large market after the end of the war. During the course of the war, the Petit & Fritsen foundry, in Aarle-Rixtel, The Netherlands, a company dating back to 1660, began to experiment with tuning its bells; this company became a major supplier of carillon bells after the war. Eijsbouts opened its own in-house bellfoundry in 1947, and eventually became well known not only for complete new instruments but especially for its work in expanding historic carillons with bells of a compatible sound.
The Paccard foundry of Annecy, France, which had been casting bells since 1796, had been developing the tuning of its bells for decades, and was making carillon bells of a high quality by the late 1930s. After the war, Paccard further refined its tuning and bell profiles, and by the late 1940s had developed the distinctive sound that has brought the firm renown ever since. Arthur Bigelow (1909–1967), an American engineer and carillonneur, lived in Leuven for several years, returning to the United States during World War II. He formed an alliance with Alfred Paccard, the result of which was what Bigelow termed the “acoustically balanced carillon.” The goal was to overcome the weakness of the treble range of carillons made up to that time, and to produce a carillon that would allow a melody in a high register to dominate. Treble bells were cast at more than double the weight of their earlier equivalents. In some cases, the bass bells were cast to a lighter profile, making it still easier for the treble range to be emphasized. Paccard bells were also designed to give greater prominence to the prime tone, and to de-emphasize the other partials, in particular the minor third. Bigelow served as carillonneur at Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey), where he enlarged the original Gillett & Johnston carillon with trebles he cast himself. Bigelow supervised and consulted on many new carillon installations as well as on renovations of older carillons. There are still at least four carillons in America that have some treble bells cast by Bigelow, including the historic 1900 Paccard carillon at Saint Vincent’s Seminary in Philadelphia.
The Dutch foundries, Petit & Fritsen and Eijsbouts, soon developed their bell profiles along related lines, though each had its own unique sound. (The earliest carillon bells by Eijsbouts had resembled the work of the English bellfounders.) By the early 1950s, carillons were being imported to North America by Taylor, Paccard, and Petit & Fritsen. Eijsbouts chimes were imported in the early 1950s as well, but it was not until the 1960s that full carillons by Eijsbouts were imported to North America. The 1951 carillon at Culver Military Academy was to be the last North American carillon built by Gillett and Johnston. (They made just one subsequent carillon, at Saint Nicholas Church, Aberdeen, Scotland, cast in 1952 and 1954.) Taylor installed several significant instruments, including large instruments at the University of Kansas, Yale University, and Washington Cathedral. However, the majority of North American carillons installed since World War II have been cast by Eijsbouts, Paccard, and Petit & Fritsen. A few other foundries have installed a small number of carillons, including Michiels of Belgium, Whitechapel of England, and Meeks & Watson, the latter being the first American bellfounder to cast a carillon since Meneely of Watervliet closed in 1952.
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