Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Inside the Bell Tower
David Maker, a music professor at the university, prepares to play the carillon.
Andrew's Story
From behind the row of turnbuckles and metal rods, David Maker beats on the batons of the antiquated carillon. Each smack of his fist makes a harsh slapping sound, followed by the resonating toll of a bell overhead.
The bells are part of the University of Connecticut’s carillon, and Maker is a professor of music and UConn’s recently retired carillonneur.
The 31 bronze alloy bells, collectively weighing 15,500 pounds, are owned and maintained by the university, but housed in Storrs Congregational Church. According to Maker, this is the only carillon publicly owned but installed on private property.
In 1931, through the generosity of Austin Cornelius Dunham, the carillon was donated to the University. It was inaugurated on June 6, 1931, the University’s 50th anniversary.
The UConn carillon is one of 11 carillons in Connecticut, and one of only a half-dozen carillons made entirely in the United States, according to Maker.
Col. Benjamin Hanks, whose foundry stood not two miles from campus in the early 1800s, was the first maker of church bells in the United States. His son’s apprentice, Andrew Meneely, created the Old Meneely Bell Company in Watervliet, New York from where the Storrs carillon originates.
To access the carillon, one must climb up two flights of stairs inside the church. Here, the clock mechanism resides. A level below the carillon, this contraption looks like something out of a storybook. At each quarter hour the machine whirrs and whistles, gears turning, levers spinning, all of this to produce a simple song to sound the passing of time.
Two steep ladders in the church tower lie between the clock mechanism and the carillon, an instrument much less sophisticated than the piece of equipment below.
A single fluorescent bulb is enough light to fill the room. The wooden keyboard is composed of keys or batons that look like chair legs. They are connected to slender metal rods attached to turnbuckles that run up through the ceiling. Above, the bells clang their notes as Maker pounds the tired batons. Every punch of the keyboard threatens to knock out the carillon for good, but the carillon continues to play the notes demanded by the carillonneur.
The bells were originally used as a broadcast system, and also to determine the boundaries of a town. If a person was within earshot of the bells of a certain town, then they were considered to still be in that town.
University officials intended to use the carillon as a passing bell, but their use as such was short lived.
Today, the carillon is worn from decades of use, and is in need of repair. Maker is optimistic that repairs will be made. “We want to start an account for donations,” said Maker. “I have no idea how soon it would be repaired.”
A single file cabinet contains the entire library of carillon sheet music. According to Maker, there is not an abundance of music written specifically for the carillon.
Although Maker is a retired carillonneur, he still comes to play the carillon for church events. He also plays twice in the summer as part of a carillon concert series.
The bells are part of the University of Connecticut’s carillon, and Maker is a professor of music and UConn’s recently retired carillonneur.
The 31 bronze alloy bells, collectively weighing 15,500 pounds, are owned and maintained by the university, but housed in Storrs Congregational Church. According to Maker, this is the only carillon publicly owned but installed on private property.
In 1931, through the generosity of Austin Cornelius Dunham, the carillon was donated to the University. It was inaugurated on June 6, 1931, the University’s 50th anniversary.
The UConn carillon is one of 11 carillons in Connecticut, and one of only a half-dozen carillons made entirely in the United States, according to Maker.
Col. Benjamin Hanks, whose foundry stood not two miles from campus in the early 1800s, was the first maker of church bells in the United States. His son’s apprentice, Andrew Meneely, created the Old Meneely Bell Company in Watervliet, New York from where the Storrs carillon originates.
To access the carillon, one must climb up two flights of stairs inside the church. Here, the clock mechanism resides. A level below the carillon, this contraption looks like something out of a storybook. At each quarter hour the machine whirrs and whistles, gears turning, levers spinning, all of this to produce a simple song to sound the passing of time.
Two steep ladders in the church tower lie between the clock mechanism and the carillon, an instrument much less sophisticated than the piece of equipment below.
A single fluorescent bulb is enough light to fill the room. The wooden keyboard is composed of keys or batons that look like chair legs. They are connected to slender metal rods attached to turnbuckles that run up through the ceiling. Above, the bells clang their notes as Maker pounds the tired batons. Every punch of the keyboard threatens to knock out the carillon for good, but the carillon continues to play the notes demanded by the carillonneur.
The bells were originally used as a broadcast system, and also to determine the boundaries of a town. If a person was within earshot of the bells of a certain town, then they were considered to still be in that town.
University officials intended to use the carillon as a passing bell, but their use as such was short lived.
Today, the carillon is worn from decades of use, and is in need of repair. Maker is optimistic that repairs will be made. “We want to start an account for donations,” said Maker. “I have no idea how soon it would be repaired.”
A single file cabinet contains the entire library of carillon sheet music. According to Maker, there is not an abundance of music written specifically for the carillon.
Although Maker is a retired carillonneur, he still comes to play the carillon for church events. He also plays twice in the summer as part of a carillon concert series.
Marc's Version
The main assembly room of the Storrs Congregational Church features red rugs that are spotless and off-white walls that are flawless.
But four flights of stairs and 63 steps above the pews, is a room layered with dust, cobwebs and dead. There are no rugs or painted walls; only rickety floor boards. In the middle of the room sits the Austin Dunham Carillon.
It isn’t fancy - the vases full of flowers sitting on the edges of the carillon are fake - but for 78 years, the worn down instrument has served the University of Connecticut well. The only problem is, the university hasn’t returned the favor.
“It has not been repaired since it was installed here,” said David Maker, former UConn carillonneur and music professor. “Which, to me, is scandalous. The bells are fine, but the mechanisms are in bad condition.”
At first sight, the parallel arrangement of turnbuckles and metal rods distracts onlookers from the carillon’s decaying wooden frame. The batons, which are used to play the carillon, have been worn hittled down over the years, exposing a layer of unpolished and jagged wood.
When Maker sits on the stool facing the carillon, ready to play, he braces himself for the physical discomfort agony that comes with the job of playing the Dunham carillon.
“Most are easier to play than this one,” Maker said while examining his fingers. “It’s a little rough on me.”
The carillon was purchased by the university by proceeds from a gift of property donated by Dunham. When it was installed in 1931, the college and the church came to terms on an agreement that would put the carillon in the church steeple, making it the only carillon in North America that is publicly owned but housed in an independent church on private property.
Since its unique origin, the only construction the carillon has seen was done by the Verizon Wireless Co. less than five years ago. The cell phone company turned the church’s steeple into a transmitter tower to broadcast its wireless signal to Verizon cell phones in the area.
“I was deathly afraid they were going to do something to the carillon,” Maker said.
While wireless signals may take precedence in the church’s steeple nowadays, the carillon used to be the main piece of the Storrs Congregational Church. Maker said the university most likely tried to use the carillon as a passing bell for classes when it was first installed.
In the summertime, the carillon is used for three summer concerts for Mansfield and it is also used as music for various university and church events.
What is the future of the carillon?
“It’s going to be fixed in my opinion,” Maker said.
The university has already received an estimate on how much it will cost to renovate the carillon. Since the bell is owned by UConn but housed at the church, Maker has suggested opening an individual bank account for the carillon which would house all donations and funding received towards the instrument.
But for now, the old wooden block simply collects dust four stories above the congregational church, waiting those few rare times when Maker comes to play its harmonious sounds.
But four flights of stairs and 63 steps above the pews, is a room layered with dust, cobwebs and dead. There are no rugs or painted walls; only rickety floor boards. In the middle of the room sits the Austin Dunham Carillon.
It isn’t fancy - the vases full of flowers sitting on the edges of the carillon are fake - but for 78 years, the worn down instrument has served the University of Connecticut well. The only problem is, the university hasn’t returned the favor.
“It has not been repaired since it was installed here,” said David Maker, former UConn carillonneur and music professor. “Which, to me, is scandalous. The bells are fine, but the mechanisms are in bad condition.”
At first sight, the parallel arrangement of turnbuckles and metal rods distracts onlookers from the carillon’s decaying wooden frame. The batons, which are used to play the carillon, have been worn hittled down over the years, exposing a layer of unpolished and jagged wood.
When Maker sits on the stool facing the carillon, ready to play, he braces himself for the physical discomfort agony that comes with the job of playing the Dunham carillon.
“Most are easier to play than this one,” Maker said while examining his fingers. “It’s a little rough on me.”
The carillon was purchased by the university by proceeds from a gift of property donated by Dunham. When it was installed in 1931, the college and the church came to terms on an agreement that would put the carillon in the church steeple, making it the only carillon in North America that is publicly owned but housed in an independent church on private property.
Since its unique origin, the only construction the carillon has seen was done by the Verizon Wireless Co. less than five years ago. The cell phone company turned the church’s steeple into a transmitter tower to broadcast its wireless signal to Verizon cell phones in the area.
“I was deathly afraid they were going to do something to the carillon,” Maker said.
While wireless signals may take precedence in the church’s steeple nowadays, the carillon used to be the main piece of the Storrs Congregational Church. Maker said the university most likely tried to use the carillon as a passing bell for classes when it was first installed.
In the summertime, the carillon is used for three summer concerts for Mansfield and it is also used as music for various university and church events.
What is the future of the carillon?
“It’s going to be fixed in my opinion,” Maker said.
The university has already received an estimate on how much it will cost to renovate the carillon. Since the bell is owned by UConn but housed at the church, Maker has suggested opening an individual bank account for the carillon which would house all donations and funding received towards the instrument.
But for now, the old wooden block simply collects dust four stories above the congregational church, waiting those few rare times when Maker comes to play its harmonious sounds.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
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