# Classic gothical (Northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands) carillon music



## PabloElFlamenco (Jun 5, 2014)

Howdy folks,

I use my best possible Texan manner in greeting you to a subject which I presume (would that be an error?) most of you are not familiar with: carillon music.

In these parts, the cities of Northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands, it is not at all uncommon for the waves from these instruments to fill the skies in peaceful resonance. Mind you, it is literally impossible to play the church (still often the highest building in town) carillon without having the entire city hear it. There have been citizens known to complain to the authorities! It is a sound that intimately belongs to my world. Nothing comes closer to my otherwise unreligious being than the carillon or, as possible alternative, overseeing the Bosporus, the call of thousands of muezzins from the great city of Istanbul...

Here's an example of the carillon, from the famous school in Mechelen (Malines-F, Malinas-SP).

http://www.beiaardschool.be/Marc2004/nl/

Click: diversen
Click: beiaardmuziek

Just sharing...

Paul


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Hey Paul,

with us in the more Germanic influenced areas of the north Churches with "Glockenspiels" are not uncommon, fx. the parish of the neighbourhood where I used to live in Gothenburg the organist give a 30 minute lunch recital almost every Friday on their instrument! I once strolled down the adjacent street and found myself immersed in an improvisation on Mozartian Opera themes, hilariously fun!

It is BTW two interesting experiences, listening inside the church and outside, each will give a different musical sensation I believe all should try!

/ptr


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## PabloElFlamenco (Jun 5, 2014)

Tak ptr, my maritime atlas puts your location about 4 nautical miles (say 7 km) north of Ronehamn, Gotland, a name that sounds to me like it goes well with that kind of music. And I'll have to try your outside/inside perspective, never done that! 
Greetings from Breda, NL,
Paul


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I can't open the link, are you talking of something like this?


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## PabloElFlamenco (Jun 5, 2014)

norman bates said:


> I can't open the link, are you talking of something like this?


Yes, "something like this" is correct; I do not know to what extent these carillon/glockenspiel instruments are standardized, perhaps some of the more "portable" (rollable...) ones may have some standards making them fully "interchangeable".

But the fixed "churchtower" carillons must be, to a large extent, standalones; after all, some of these instruments must be very old, according to this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carillon , a "normal" full complement of bells is ..47.. and, mind you, the heaviest thereof would weigh upto anything over 12 metric tonnes, so that, well, you need a strong frame for an instrument weighing, say, at least 100 metric tonnes (220,000 pounds).


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

When I toured Hearst Castle in northern California, they stopped in front of its carillon. It was hard to resist the urge to reach out and poke one of the keys.

I have a dream of hearing an arrangement of Erik Satie's Ogives on a carillon.


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