Saturday, October 25 (2008) 11:00 AM (Family Weekend)

On Saturday, October 25, John Gouwens, Visiting Lecturer in Carillon at Ball State University , will present a recital on the 48-bell carillon at Shafer Tower , on McKinley Avenue , in the heart of the Ball State campus. This performance will be offered in conjunction with special events “Family Weekend” at the University.

The program will open with a set of “Six Pieces for Carillon,” by noted operatic composer Gian Carlo Menotti. These were student works, written during a special course of study within the Curtis Institute of Music (where Menotti was a student, and later taught for many years), yet they are remarkably effective on the instrument.

Other selections on the program date back to the early years of the development of the carillon as a musical instrument. In the 17^th Century, Jacob van Eyck was City Carillonneur of Utrecht, in The Netherlands, where he also was a celebrated performer and composer on the recorder. He published an extensive series of sets of variations on melodies familiar in his day – folk songs as well as the Psalm tunes familiar in the Dutch Reformed church. These were written for recorder, and published during the composer’s lifetime. He wrote nothing specifically for carillon, scholars are reasonably certain that some of these recorder pieces were played on the bells as well. One of the most delightful of these pieces is included on the October 25 program: “Little English Nightingale.”

The arrangement of music familiar melodies for carillon continues to the present day. Percival Price, longtime carillonneur at The University of Michigan, was particularly clever at arranging folk songs in a way that reflected the words as well as being musically enjoyable. Two of his arrangements will be included, including a setting of “Blow the Man Down” which really does have a “whirling wind” effect in it! Gouwens will also include improvised arrangements of songs from Broadway shows to provide a familiar element to the recital.

By the 18^th Century, a few carillonneurs finally began writing down compositions (rather than just improvising all their performances) for the carillon. Particularly notable was Matthias van den Gheyn of Leuven , Belgium , whose “Preludes” for carillon are a staple in the repertoire of carillonneurs worldwide. Mr. Gouwens will be playing “Prelude No. 5,” a particularly effective piece on the bells, due to the way the many diminished-chord harmonies fit the sonorities on the bells.

One of Gouwens’s own recent compositions, “Sunset on the Lake ,” dating from 2005, is on the program as well. It makes use of some specialized and unusual playing techniques for a light, rippling, impressionistic effect. John Gouwens has made a specialty of arranging piano music by Spanish composers for carillon performance. He’ll be including an example on this program, “Song and Dance No. 11,” by Federico Mompou. As with Mompou’s other “Songs and Dances,” this piece features a more solemn but lyrical first section, followed by livelier dance music for the second.

The final piece is the bold “Toccata for 42 Bells” by Robert Moore. This exciting piece was written for the rededication (1956) of a just-enlarged carillon (enlarged from 35 to 42 bells) in Oklahoma City . The composer is an organist from Oklahoma City who was active as a composer of organ and choral music. Fortunately, he also wrote two very fine carillon pieces!

Following the recital, if any are interested in seeing the instrument at close range, Mr. Gouwens will offer a tour. Programs will be available, with many details about the music and the instrument. Though the performance is specifically intended for the aforementioned BSU affiliates, the general public is welcome to attend the recital.

Programs will be available, with many details about the music and the instrument.