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The Carillon & Peal Bells |
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The Carillon Comprising 53 bronze bells (74 percent copper, 26 percent tin), the Cathedral’s Kibbey Carillon is the third heaviest in the world. Given by Miss Bessie J. Kibbey in memory of her grandparents, all the bells of the carillon were cast at one time and installed in the early 1960s; it was dedicated on September 22, 1963. Manufactured by the John Taylor Bellfoundry of Loughborough, England, the smallest bell weighs 17 pounds; the largest 12 tons. The carillon is played via a keyboard and pedals, situated high in the Cathedral’s central tower (150 feet above the nave floor) and directly amid the bells. The keyboard controls a mechanical tracker system (similar to a tracker organ) that uses transmission wires to move the clappers. The bells remain stationary while a metal clapper strikes the inside of the casting. Carillon recitals are played on Saturdays, 12:30—1:15 pm, with the exception of Holy Saturday before Easter, and feature Cathedral Carillonneur Edward M. Nassor. The carillon is best heard from the Bishop’s Garden. Click here for an audio clip of the Carillon.
The Peal Bells In a chamber above the Cathedral’s carillon, high up in the Gloria in Excelsis tower, resides a 10-bell peal set for change ringing, a form of bell ringing begun in England in the seventeenth century. The bells were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry of London in the early 1960s. Each bell bears an inscription, and the bells vary in diameter from 28 to 55 inches and in weight from 608 to 3,588 pounds. They were installed along with the carillon in 1963.
The bells are rung by a band of ringers, one person to a bell. To protect their hearing, the ringers stand in a separate room beneath the bells and ring the bells using ropes. Ringers play patterns of notes called “methods,” which are more mathematical than tuneful. Each of the Cathedral’s bells can be rung approximately once every two seconds, allowing for the rotation of the bell from mouth-up through mouth-down and back to mouth-up position. A “peal” is a compete set of changes (switches in order of the bells) on a given number of bells. To illustrate, here is an example of the simplest four-bell method of change ringing, called “Plain Hunt.” The bells are numbered according to their pitch, with the highest bell (or “treble”) being number 1 and the lowest (or “tenor”) being number 4: 1 2 3 4 A quarter peal on six of the Cathedral’s bells takes approximately 3 hours; ringers may not take breaks or switch off. A full peal on 10 bells would take about 123 days, ringing day and night. Ringing a bell is not as easy as it might appear. It involves swinging a 608 to 3,588-pound bell through a 360 arc in rhythm with up to nine other bells. Although the bells are counterbalanced, a certain amount of strength and coordination—and much practice—are required to keep the bell under control. The Cathedral’s peal bells are rung by bands from the National Cathedral School for Girls and the Washington Ringing Society. The Washington Ringing Society performs the art of change ringing on the Central Tower peal bells every Sunday after the 11 am service (approximately 12:30 pm) and rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 pm. The peal bells are also best heard from the Bishop’s Garden. See the WRS’s website http://www.cathedral.org/wrs for more information. |
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Peal bells play mathematical patterns, not melodic
music, because peal bells cannot play a rhythm; it takes two seconds for
a peal bell to ring and be ready to ring again. In the peal bells, the
casting rotates to strike the clapper; the bells are played by pulling
ropes. The Cathedral’s central tower is the only place in North
America to house both peal and carillon bells.