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Home > Music > Carillon
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In the tower of Duke Chapel is a 50-bell carillon, played before
and after each Sunday worship service and every weekday at 5:00
p.m.
The carillonneur begins the 5:00 recitals by ringing the hour
with the largest bell. On holidays or other public occasions,
the recitals often feature selections appropriate to the day.
In a tradition started during Terry Sanford’s tenure as
University President, the Duke Alma Mater (“Dear Old Duke”)
is played every Friday.
Description
The carillon’s 50 bells range over four chromatic octaves.
The largest bell, G natural in pitch, weighs 11,200 pounds and
measures 6 feet 9 inches in diameter at the mouth; the smallest
weighs 10-1/2 pounds and is 6-3/8 inches in diameter. Although
the Duke carillon is not the largest such instrument, the size,
number, and tonal quality of its bells make it an outstanding
example.
Many modern carillons are played electronically, but Duke’s
carillon is played entirely by hand, from a keyboard located in
a small cabin directly beneath the bells. The bells do not swing,
but are bolted stationary in a steel framework. Keys and pedals
are connected to the bells’ clappers by a mechanical system
of direct cranks, roller bars, and woven steel cables. This keyboard
of 50 oak batons and 26 pedals provides the carillonneur sensitive
musical control of the instrument. Much force is required to play
the largest bells, as their clappers weigh over 100 pounds. The
playing room also houses a practice keyboard, with hammers that
strike small internal metal bars rather than the bells.
History
The Duke carillon was the gift of George G. Allen and William
R. Perkins, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Duke Endowment.
It was cast in Loughborough, England, by John Taylor Bellfounders,
Ltd., the world’s leading and largest bellfoundry, which
continues a line of bellfounding stretching back to the 14th century.
The carillon was installed in the Chapel tower in 1932, and the
playing mechanism was completely renovated by the manufacturer
in the summer of 1992.
The formal inaugural recital on the Chapel carillon was given
in June 1932 by Anton Brees, a native of Belgium and one of America’s
foremost carillonneurs, who served as University Carilloneur from
1932 to 1956. Duke’s carillon was one of the first in the
South, and the inaugural recital attracted an audience of over
10,000 people. The current University Carilloneur, J. Samuel Hammond,
began playing the carillon in 1965, while an undergraduate student
at Duke, and was designated University Carillonneur in 1986. A
member of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America, Hammond
is only the second to hold the title of Duke University Carilloneur.
Photo Gallery
Bells of the Duke carillon.
The bells are held stationary in a steel framework.
The keyboard of the carillon. The carillonneur sits on the bench
(barely visible), facing the oak levers. Other oak levers are
played with the feet.
The back of the keyboard, showing the transmission cables passing
up through the ceiling to the bells
Rocker bars translate the mechanical action from vertical to
horizontal.
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