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List of carillons in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carillons, musical instruments of bells in the percussion family, are found throughout the United States. Several institutions register and count them. Some registries specialize in counting specific types of carillons. For example, the War Memorial and Peace Carillons registry counts instruments that serve as war memorials or were built in the name of promoting world peace.[1] TowerBells counts carillons played via a baton keyboard as "traditional carillons" and those with computerized or electronic mechanisms as "non-traditional carillons", among other bell instruments. It also publishes maps, technical specifications, and summary statistics.[2] As the World Carillon Federation does not consider non-traditional carillons to be carillons, it counts only those played via a baton keyboard and without computerized or electronic mechanisms.[3] According to TowerBells and the World Carillon Federation, there are about 170 existing traditional carillons in the United States.

According to the World Carillon Federation [nl], the carillons in the United States account for 25 percent of the world's total[3] and is consequently considered one of the "great carillon countries" along with the Netherlands and Belgium.[4]

Criteria for inclusion

[edit]

The World Carillon Federation [nl] defines a carillon as an instrument of at least 23 cast bronze bells hung in fixed suspension, played with a traditional keyboard of batons, and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together. It may designate instruments of 15 to 22 bells built before 1940 as "historical carillons".[5] Its member organizations – including for example The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America – also define a carillon with those restrictions.[6] This list contains only carillons that meet the definition outlined by these organizations.

Alabama

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  • Birmingham: Rushton Memorial Carillon at Samford University in the Harwell Goodwin Davis Library. 60 bells. Each inscribed with Biblical scripture or meaningful literary inscription.
  • Huntsville: First Baptist Church, 1990. 48 bells by The Verdin Company. Carillon housed in the world's tallest prefabricated steeple: 229 ft (70 m). Traditional keyboard + 2 non-traditional electronic consoles.
  • Tuscaloosa: Denny Chimes, a well-known landmark of the University of Alabama's campus. Houses 25 bells, which are played both manually and electronically.

Arizona

[edit]
List of carillons in Arizona
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Saint Barnabas on the Desert Paradise Valley 25
Up 8 semitones
Royal Eijsbouts 2006 [7]

California

[edit]
The Carillon Bell tower dominates the University of California, Riverside's main campus.

Colorado

[edit]

Connecticut

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Florida

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Century Tower. Gainesville, Florida

Illinois

[edit]
Rees Memorial Carillon
Springfield, Illinois

Indiana

[edit]

Iowa

[edit]
  • Des Moines: The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul | Des Moines,[28] Windsor Memorial Carillon. 25 bells in the Mary Belle Windsor Tower in downtown Des Moines. The 12 original bells were cast in 1896 by the McShane Foundry, Baltimore. Three additional bells were installed in 1989 and 10 more in 1991. These last 13 bells and the rebuild of the bell tower were a gift from the Windsor family, hence, the Windsor Memorial Carillon.[29]

Kansas

[edit]
List of carillons in Kansas
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
University of Kansas Lawrence 53 13,400 6,100 79,000 36,000
Down 1 semitone
John Taylor & Co 1951 [30][31]

Kentucky

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  • Berea: Berea College's Phelps-Stokes Chapel Carillon, 1970s 56 bells. It is the largest in the state of Kentucky.

Louisiana

[edit]
  • Morgan City: Carillon Tower at Brownell Memorial Park, dedicated 1971. 106 feet tall with 61 bells.[32]

Maryland

[edit]
List of carillons in Maryland
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Joseph Dill Baker Memorial Carillon,
Baker Park
Frederick 49
Up 4 semitones
[33]
Tagart Memorial Chapel,
McDonogh School
Owings Mills 48
Up 2 semitones
[34]
Brown & Church Carillon,
Salisbury University
Salisbury 48
None (concert pitch)
Meeks & Watson 2017 [35]

Massachusetts

[edit]
  • Amherst: The Henry Vincent Couper Memorial Carillon at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It has 42 bells and spans 312 octaves. Bells cast by the Royal Eijsbouts Bell Foundry of Asten in the Netherlands.[36]
  • Cohasset: Erected in 1924 with 23 bells, known as The Bancroft Memorial Carillon. Located in a gothic stone tower in St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Expanded in 1925, 1928 and then renovated and enlarged to 57 bells between 1989 and 1990 by the John Taylor Bell Foundry. Lowest bell, note G, weighs 11,280 pounds while the smallest bell, note E, weighs 29 pounds.
  • Fall River: The Durfee Carillon Bell Tower at BMC Durfee High School, 23 bells, including 9 historic Meneely bells from the first Durfee High School 1880's
  • Gloucester: Our Lady of Good Voyage Church.
  • Medford: Goddard Chapel Carillon, Tufts University Chaplaincy.
  • Northampton: Dorothea Carlile Memorial Carillon, College Hall at Smith College, 47 bells ranging in weight from 24 to 2,800 pounds.
  • Northfield: McRoberts Memorial Carillon, Russell Sage Chapel at Northfield Campus, Northfield Mount Hermon School[37] This 55-bell carillon has now been relocated to the Rhodes Arts Center on the Mount Hermon campus in Mount Hermon, MA.[38]
  • Norwood: Norwood Memorial Municipal Building – 50 bells, heaviest 3,556 kg (7,840 lb), Gillett & Johnston 1928/1935 and John Taylor & Co 1983[39]
  • Wellesley: Wellesley College Carillon at Wellesley College installed in 1931, renovated in 1984, last enlarged in 1990. 32 bells by Taylor.

Michigan

[edit]

Minnesota

[edit]

Missouri

[edit]
List of carillons in Missouri
Location City Bells Range and
transposition
Bourdon weight Total weight Bellfounder(s) Notes Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Missouri State University
Duane G. Meyer Library
Springfield 48
None (concert pitch)
5,894 2,673 32,000 15,000 Royal Eijsbouts 2002 Jane A. Meyer Carillon
At 140 feet is the tallest freestanding carillon in the Midwest.[52]
[53][54]
Luther Tower
Campus of Concordia Seminary
Clayton 49
None (concert pitch)
5,000 2,300 Van Bergen 1970 [55][56]

Montana

[edit]
List of carillons in Montana
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
University of Montana Missoula 47
Up 5 semitones
Van Bergen 1953 [57]

Nebraska

[edit]
List of carillons in Nebraska
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
First-Plymouth Congregational Church Lincoln 57 4,592 2,083
Up 2 semitones
[58][59]
University of Nebraska Omaha Omaha 47
None (concert pitch)
Paccard 1988 [60]

New Hampshire

[edit]
List of carillons in New Hampshire
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
St. Paul's School Concord 23
Up 5 semitones
Gillett & Johnston 1933 [61]

New Jersey

[edit]

New York

[edit]

North Carolina

[edit]

Ohio

[edit]
Deeds Carrilon, Ohio

Oklahoma

[edit]

Pennsylvania

[edit]

South Carolina

[edit]
  • Charleston: The Carillon and Thomas Dry Howie Tower at The Citadel has 59 bells weighing from 25 to 4,400 pounds and a total of 25,000 pounds, and were originally cast in 1795 at the Bergen Bell foundry in the Netherlands. Installed in 1954, as of 2022 only 18 bells are playable.[78]
  • Clemson: The Clemson University Memorial Carillon. 48 handcrafted bells, located in the tower of Tillman Hall at Clemson University.
  • Greenville: The Riverplace Bell Tower and Carillon. 25 bells were placed within 3 steel columns, the tallest at 54 feet. The open structure of the tower was designed to view the river and cityscape nearby, under the tower is a continuously flowing water feature. The tower was installed in 2012 and dedicated to C. Thomas Wyche "Tommy" on August 23, 2012. Wyche was chosen for his love of music and lifelong support of the city's arts, land preservation, and future development.[79]
  • Greenwood: The Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church Carillon. 37 bells in a 3-octave scale. Bells cast by the Van Bergen Bellfoundries, Heiligerlee, Netherlands. Restored in the 1990s over a one-year period by L. Eckert, a then employee of the foundry's US Office[80] based in Charleston, SC.

Tennessee

[edit]
Linnie M. Barger Carillon on the campus of St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church, Ooltewah, Tennessee.

Texas

[edit]

Utah

[edit]

Vermont

[edit]
List of carillons in Vermont
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Middlebury Chapel,
Middlebury College
Middlebury 48
Up 4 semitones
[90][91]
Adams Tower,
Norwich University
Northfield 47 1,200 540
Up 3 semitones
[92][93]
Ira Allen Chapel,
University of Vermont
Burlington
Nearly 4 octaves comprising 40 pitched tuning rods
[94]

Virginia

[edit]

Washington (state)

[edit]
List of carillons in Washington (state)
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Kane Hall,
University of Washington
Seattle 47
Up 7 semitones
Royal Eijsbouts 2017 [96][97]
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Spokane 49
None (concert pitch)
John Taylor & Co 1968 [98]

Washington, D.C.

[edit]

West Virginia

[edit]
List of carillons in West Virginia
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition
Bellfounder(s) Ref.
lb kg lb kg
Concord University Athens 48
None (concert pitch)
Paccard 1997 [102]

Wisconsin

[edit]
University of Wisconsin–Madison Carillon Tower

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
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  4. ^ Rombouts, Luc (2014). Singing Bronze: A History of Carillon Music. Translated by Communicationwise. Leuven University Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-90-5867-956-7. ... and the three 'great' carillon countries – the Netherlands, the United States and Belgium – are responsible for almost 70% of all carillons worldwide.
  5. ^ "Organization". World Carillon Federation. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021. The definition of a carillon is fixed as follows: 'A carillon is a musical instrument composed of tuned bronze bells which are played from a baton keyboard'. Only those carillons having at least 23 bells are considered.
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