May 28

These bells, however, are not like the carillon bells located in the same tower, which can be used to play familiar tunes and hymns. The 10 bells work on a set or permutations instead that can sound beautiful but work more mathematically than popular music.

The bells, unlike the carillon where only the clapper moves, are free moving and rotate 360 degrees when the ropes are pulled enough.

The art of playing the bells is called "change ringing," which began in 17th century England.

On Memorial Day, the Washington Ringing Society, conducted by Rick Dirksen, attempted its 100th "full peal" using the set of 10 bells. A full peal is when a sequence of 5,000 or more different changes is performed without stopping and without recycling the same individual cycle.

Monday's goal was to achieve 5,039 changes at the Cathedral, where both the carillon and the set of 10 bells were installed in 1963. In order to accomplish such a feat, it would require the 10 ringers to perform for more than three consecutive hours.

Needless to say, completing a full peal is not the easiest thing in the world.

Newspaper article showing Rick Dirksen- text on left

"Lots of things can go wrong," said Dirksen, who is the chief financial officer at the National Cathedral School. "The success rate is about 50 percent."

And, indeed, Monday's first try was interrupted very early on, and a second attempt proved unsuccessful.

The first successful full peal at National Cathedral occurred on May 7, 1964.

Dirksen said that everyone present Monday has been part of the multiple successful full peals. Dirksen does not keep official records, but over his 30-plus years with ring changing, he has conducted many full peals.

The training that goes into the ringing is rigorous, taking at least two or three years to become reasonably good, said Dirksen. To be at the level to be a part of a full peal takes four or five years of practice.

There are between 25 and 30 members in the ringers guild in Washington. The group plays at the Cathedral or at the Old Post Office Pavilion, which also has a bell tower.

Dirksen has been involved with ring changing at the Cathedral since its inception. His father, a former program director at National Cathedral, was one of those involved with bringing the bells, cast in 1962, over to their current location.

A resident of Bethesda, Dirksen is the director of the White Chapel's Guild at National Cathedral School, in which his daughter, Jenna, participates. Every Friday, the group, founded in the 1960s, rings the bells.

"At its highest level, it is very musical," Dirksen said.

There is a basic sequence that begins each peal, but then the conductor introduces changes to the formula that will allow for continuous ringing.

The ringers keep track of the order by looking at their fellow ringers and by listening to the conductor, said Robert Gibson, one of the ringers for the attempted peal.

According to Gibson, a ringer will not play the same bell each time the group plays, but there is a progression based on their seniority.

"The heavier bells takes more experience," said Gibson, who got his start attending graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "If a mistake is made, it is harder to correct."

The heaviest of the 10 bells weighs more than 3,500 pounds. Right next to it is the smallest bell.

Gibson noted that among part U.S. bell ringers was Paul Revere.

The band of ringers will go for the Cathedral's 100th peal again on July 4.