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Carillon
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A carillon (, or ) is a musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells which are played one after the other (to play a melody) or sounded together (to play a chord). A carillon is played by striking a "baton" keyboard with the fists and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys activate levers and wires that connect to the metal clappers that strike the bells, which allows the performer (called a "carillonneur") to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key.
Carillon bells are usually housed in the bell towers of church towers, belfries, or in municipal buildings. The carillon is the heaviest of all musical instruments; the total weight of bells alone can be 100 tons in the largest instruments.
The greatest concentration of carillons is still found in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Northern France, where they were symbols of civic pride and status. A local bell in England is situated in the Birmingham area of Bournville. It is a tradition that the bell is rung at Christmas time and people gather on the local green and sing Christmas songs.
HistoryIn medieval times, bells were first used as a way of notifying people of fires, storms, wars and other events. The great bell Rowland announced births, deaths, fires, and military attacks. A ringing of bells rung 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 14th century in the Low Countries.
In the 17th century, François and Pieter Hemony developed the art of bell-founding and -designing, and tuning, which they passed on to Antwerp bellfounder Melchior de Haze. In the 18th century, several members of the Van den Gheyn bellfounders dynasty also mastered the skill of bell tuning, such as Andreas Joseph Van den Gheyn. Unfortunately his techniques also passed away with him. It was not until the 19th century in England under the Taylor bellfoundry at Loughborough, England, that bell tuning was re-invented.
The greatest concentration of carillons is still found in The Netherlands, Belgium, and in (the North of) France, where they were mounted in the grand towers of rich cities as tokens of civic pride and status. Carillons were usually housed in church towers, belfries, or in municipal buildings. In Germany, a carillon is also called a glockenspiel.
Musicians
MediaInstruments by countryOverview of highest concentrations of carillons (as defined by the World Carillon Federation) (data September 2006):
| Region | Surface area
(km²) | Number of
carillons | Concentration
per 1000 km² |
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| Netherlands | 41,526 | 182 | 4.383 |
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| Belgium | 30,528 | 89 | 2.915 |
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| Brussels-C. R. | 161 | 2 | 12.422 | | Flanders | 13,522 | 64 | 4.733 | | Wallonia | 16,844 | 23 | 1.365 | | Nord, France | 5,743 | 15 | 2.612 |
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| Côte d'Or, France | 8,763 | 5 | 0.571 |
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| for comparison only: |
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| USA | 9,631,420 | 164 | 0.017 |
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| Australia | 7,741,220 | 2 | 0.0003 |
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SchoolsCarillon schools include the in the Netherlands 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, and Missouri State University, 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 or Cornell University.
See also
External links- Discography of all recordings known to have existed, by the
- . A history of the carillon with particular attention to the carillon and carillon music in the times of Johannes Vermeer.
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