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An ornately decorated red brick tower
The carillon at the University of Sydney Quadrangle memorialises fallen soldiers of the First World War

Carillons, musical instruments in the percussion family with at least 23 cast bells and played with a keyboard, are found in Australia and New Zealand as a result of the First World War. During the German occupation of Belgium, many of the country's carillons were silenced or destroyed. This news circulated among the Allied Powers, who saw it as "the brutal annihilation of a unique democratic music instrument". [1] [2] The destruction was romanticized in poetry and music, particularly in England. Poets – often exaggerating reality – wrote that the Belgian carillons were in mourning and awaited to ring out on the day of the country's liberation. Edward Elgar composed a work for orchestra which includes motifs of bells and a spoken text anticipating the victory of the Belgian people. [3] He later even composed a work specifically for the carillon. [4] Following the war, countries in the Anglosphere built their own carillons to memorialise the lives lost and to promote world peace, [2] including two in Australia and one in New Zealand. [5] [6]

The World Carillon Federation [ nl] and the Carillon Society of Australia counts carillons throughout Australia and New Zealand. According to the two sources, there are four carillons: three in Australia and one in New Zealand. [7] [8] The largest and heaviest carillon is the National War Memorial Carillon in Wellington, New Zealand, weighing 70,620 kilograms (155,690 lb). [9] The carillons were primarily constructed in the interwar period by the English bellfounders John Taylor & Co, Gillett & Johnston, and Whitechapel. Almost all of the carillons are transposing instruments. [7] [8]

According to the World Carillon Federation, the carillons in Australia and New Zealand account for less than one per cent of the world's total. [7]

Criteria for inclusion

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". [10] Its member organizations – including for example the Carillon Society of Australia – also define a carillon with those restrictions. [11] This list contains only those carillons that meet the definition outlined by these organizations.

Australia

List of carillons in Australia
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition 		Bellfounder(s) Ref.
kg lb kg lb
Carillon War Memorial Bathurst 47 1,574 3,470 —
Up 2 semitones 		John Taylor & Co 1928/2020 [12] [13]
National Carillon Canberra 57 6,108 13,466 —
None ( concert pitch) 		John Taylor & Co 1970/2003/2020 [14] [15]
University of Sydney Quadrangle Sydney 54 4,250 9,370 27,000 60,000
Up 1 semitone
[16] [17]

New Zealand

List of carillons in New Zealand
Location City Bells Bourdon weight Total weight Range and
transposition 		Bellfounder(s) Ref.
kg lb kg lb
National War Memorial Carillon Wellington 74 12,485 27,525 70,620 155,690
Down 2 semitones
[9] [18]

References

  1. ^ Thorne, Stephen J. (21 November 2018). "The Seizing of Europe's Bells". Legion. OCLC  1120054332. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Carillons and Peace". War Memorial and Peace Carillons. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. ^ Rombouts, Luc (2014). "The Broken Bells of Flanders". Singing Bronze: A History of Carillon Music. Translated by Communicationwise. Leuven University Press. pp. 195–200. ISBN  978-90-5867-956-7.
  4. ^ Orr, Scott Allan (2022). "The Origins, Development, and Legacy of Elgar's Memorial Chimes (1923)" (PDF). Beiaard- en klokkencultuur in de Lage Landen [Carillon and Bell Culture in the Low Countries]. 1 (1 ed.). Amsterdam University Press: 81–101. doi: 10.5117/BKL2022.1.004.ORR. S2CID  249082470.
  5. ^ Oakes, Marjorie J. (May 1960). "The Story of the Carillon in Australia and New Zealand" (PDF). The Bulletin. 13 (1). The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America: 12–15. OCLC  998832003. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  6. ^ "World map of peace carillons". War Memorial and Peace Carillons. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "Carillons". World Carillon Federation. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Carillons in Britain and Ireland". Carillon Society of Australia. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Wellington, National War Memorial Carillon (New Zealand)". War Memorial and Peace Carillons. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Organization". World Carillon Federation. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 14 June 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 will be taken into consideration.
  11. ^ "Composing for the Australian Carillons" (PDF). Carillon Society of Australia. December 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2023. According to the accepted international definition, the Carillon is: A musical instrument which consists of at least 23 fixed carillon bells (almost two octaves) arranged in a chromatic series and played from a keyboard that permits control of expression through variation of touch.
  12. ^ "Bathurst, War Memorial Carillon (Australia)". War Memorial and Peace Carillons. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  13. ^ "AUBATHWM". TowerBells.org. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  14. ^ "National Carillon". National Capital Authority. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  15. ^ "AUCNBRNC". TowerBells.org. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Sydney, University of Sydney War Memorial Carillon (Australia)". War Memorial and Peace Carillons. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  17. ^ "AUSYDNSU". TowerBells.org. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  18. ^ "NZWLLNWM". TowerBells.org. Retrieved 12 August 2023.

External links

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