The
McGaffin Carillon
The Church of the Covenant
University Circle
Cleveland, OH
August 8, 2014 7p.m.
A Carillon Concert by
The Groningen Carillon Duo
Adolph Rots
Auke de Boer
Before each group,
a bell will toll the corresponding number
1. Baroque Music
a.
Sonata in d - Dominico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
b. Menuetto - Johann David Scheidler (XVIII)
c. Minuetto moderato - Carl Ludwig Traugott Gläser
(1747-1797)
2. Original American Carillon Music
Concerto
for two to play -
Ronald Barnes (1927-1997)
Allegro moderato
Andante
Allegro
3. Hymn melody -
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Variations on a Shaker Melody
from ´Appalachian Spring´
4. Classical Music
a. from Symphony no. 94 ‘the Surprise’ - Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Andante
Menuett
b. Marche Militaire opus 51:1 -
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
5. Some other good stuff from the
old box
a. Jazz Pizzicato - Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
b. Fiddle-Faddle
6. Encore
Perfect Day - Lou Reed (1942-2013)
Arrangements:
Adolph Rots
The best locations for hearing the concert are
on the lawn west of the church or on the Case campus behind the church,
including the Harkness Chapel and Mather courtyards. The audience can greet the
performers following the concert near the tower entrance on the Euclid Avenue
side of the church.
NOTES
1a. The Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti lived in
Spain as composer of the court. There he wrote over 600 sonatas for
harpsichord.
1b/c. Both J.D. Scheidler and C.L.T. Gläser are
unknown composers but their Menuettos are very elegant in style and sound.
2. Ronald Barnes, one of the most influential
promoters of American carillon music composed the ‘Concerto for two to play’
for carillon duo adapting the traditional and classical sonata form in a
brilliant 20th century masterpiece in three parts: fast-slow-fast.
Gary White is another famous composer who wrote
several interesting pieces for carillon.
4. After a period of musical experiments in New York
Aaron Copland decided to write his music in an understandable artistic way in
simple forms. ´Appalachian Spring´ (1944) is one of his finest ballet pieces.
The Shaker Hymn is well known as ´Simple Gifts´.
5. The nickname ´Surprise´ of Symphony 94 by Joseph
Haydn is due to the forte moment after the simple first lines of the second
movement: Andante. In the third movement: Menuett the traditional ABA-form
(menuet-trio-menuet) is present.
Franz Schubert wrote several Military Marches for
piano duet. Op 51:1 in D is the best known.
3 + 6. Compositions of Leroy Andersen are now part of
the popular classical repertoire of many symphony orchestras. They are
appreciated because of their nice melodies and sparkling energy. They also
sound nice on bells. ´Jazz Pizzicato´ (1938) was such a success that it was
followed by a new piece: ´Jazz Legato´ (1939). ´Fiddle-Faddle´ was created in
1947, two years after the successful ´Syncopated Clock´.
Last year the rock artist Lou Reed died. The music and
lyrics of Lewis Allen Reed have been controversial but in ´Perfect Day´ (1997)
you don´t hear that at all. In 2008 Lou Reed and his wife visited the carillon
of the Martini tower in Groningen.
--Notes by the Groningen Carillon Duo
The
Groningen Carillon Duo
Adolph Rots studied organ,
church music and school music at the Utrecht Conservatorium. His carillon
instructor at the Netherlands Carillon School was Bernard Winsemius. He
currently is City Carillonneur in Appingedam, Veendam, Winschoten and
Groningen.
Since 1983, he
has been cantor-organist of the Nicolaikerk in Appingedam on the facinating
Hinsch organ. In addition, he teaches music pedagogy at the Hanze Hogeschool in
Groningen. He is a member of various professional organizations and has
published a number of articles on bells and organs.
Auke de Boer studied carillon with Bernard Winsemius at the
Netherlands Carillon School. He also studied organ, conducting and church
music. Currently, Auke is City Carillonneur and organist in Dokkum and Groningen
and is employed by Groningen State
University and the city of Assen. Other positions include teaching at the music
school “de Wâldsang” in Buitenpost and the Liudger College in Drachten. Each
year, Auke and Adolph Rots perform several recitals in the northern part of Holland
as part of the Groningen Carillon Duo. They have toured Denmark, Belgium,
France and the USA. Auke has also made a solo tour of the USA, Canada and
Japan.
Since 2002
Adolph & Auke have served as City Carillonneurs at the famous Hemony
carillon (1662) of the Martini tower (1482)
in Groningen ( www.martinicarillon.nl)
The McGaffin Carillon
Consisting of
forty-seven cast bronze bells, the carillon was made in Asten, The Netherlands
by the Eijsbouts Bell Foundry for Schulmerich Carillons, Inc. of Sellersville,
Pennsylvania. The bells, made of metal in the proportion of eighty percent
copper and twenty percent tin, are tuned to the equal tempered scale. Each bell
produces a perfect Flemish bell tone consisting of a strike tone, a hum tone a
full octave below, a minor third, a fifth and an octave above the strike tone.
Besides being perfectly in tune within itself, each bell must be in tune with
other bells of the carillon. The clapper of each bell is connected by a
stainless steel wire to the clavier in a room immediately below the bell deck.
The weight of the carillonneur's strike on the batons of the clavier determines
the loudness of the sounding bells. The actual bell weight of the carillon is
around fifteen thousand pounds, with the bourdon bell weighing twenty eight
hundred pounds and the smallest bell twenty-nine pounds. Around the top of each
bell is a frieze made up of figures of the four gospel writers with their
medieval symbols. Also included is the inscription "Schulmerich-Eijsbouts
me fecit for The Church of the Covenant, Cleveland, MCMLXVIII."
(Schulmerich-Eijsbouts made me for The Church of the Covenant, 1968.)
--
from the dedication program of 9 June
1968
The carillon is
played every Sunday before and after the 10:00 morning worship and before other
services and concerts. During the summer months the tower is open to visitors
following worship.
