Washingtonian.com 2007

Mysteries of the Washington National Cathedral
A Gothic cathedral adorned with beautiful works of art, filled with music and light, rich with history and lore, the Washington National Cathedral is a place of many wonders. It turns 100 this month.

By Graham Meyer Published Saturday, September 01, 2007
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Above this first level in the central tower is the carillon, a musical instrument in which bells are rung by pounding a keyboard with one’s fists. Each key connects with a system of levers and pulleys that activates a clapper, which swings and hits a bell. Each of the carillon’s 53 bells is inscribed with a Bible verse. The largest bell, called the bourdon, is 8½ feet wide and weighs 12 tons. Bearing the inscription the lord he is god, it’s rung alone on mournful occasions.

The room housing the carillon has tall openings in the walls to let the sound of the bells reverberate into the neighborhood. The room affords views for miles in any direction, but the carillonneur is usually the only person who sees them from this vantage. Visitors are afforded similarly impressive views from the Pilgrim Observation Gallery in the west end.

Above the carillon is the ringing room for the ten peal bells. In the center is a raised circular platform with ten ropes ending in loops dangling above it. The ropes are connected to bells on the floor above that range in size from 600 pounds to more than 3,500.

When peal bells are played, the whole bell rotates from mouth upward to mouth downward, instead of staying stationary like the carillon bells. After the bell is played, a mechanism returns the bell to the mouth-up position to be played again.

Because the mechanism takes time to reset, notes can’t be repeated in close succession, so peal bells are played in mathematical patterns rather than tunes. A specific number of bells is selected, and with one ringer per bell, each is played in a predetermined sequence. Then, according to the method selected—many of which have odd names—a new sequence, generated from the previous sequence, is played. Each sequence is called a change.

Example: If ringers decide to play six bells in the method called Plain Bob Minor, the first sequence is 123456 and the second is 214365, swapping each of three adjacent pairs. The next change is 241635, leaving the end bells the same and swapping two internal pairs. The ringers go on until someone makes an error or quits. If they play all the possible arrangements, which would be 5,040 changes with seven bells, that’s a full peal. Not many more than 100 full peals have been rung on the cathedral bells in the 43 years since the first one. Anyone can become a ringer (with practice) through the Washington Ringing Society.
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