National War Memorial Carillon
Sound Files from the Carillon
Sound Excerpts performed by Timothy Hurd QSM, National Carillonist .
1. From
Assembled Masses, (1998) [mp3, 990kb] by Timothy Hurd and John Gibson.
Commissioned by the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, with
the assistance of Creative New Zealand, the piece was conceived as a
showcase for the additions to the range of the instrument in 1996-97.
An improvisatory framework using a separate motif for each day of the
three-week Festival produced a very large work for solo carillon, lasting
approximately 3 1/2 hours. In this excerpt from the start of Day 7, ascending
chromatic scales set against descending single bass notes build up incredible
resonances on the bells.
2. Lake
Music (1970) [mp3, 4mbs] by New Zealander Terry Vaughan . Commissioned
for the opening of the Canberra Carillon. This piece has become something
of a theme song for the Canberra instrument: the lake referred to is
Lake Burley Griffin, where the Carillon is ideally situated on a man-made
island, far away from urban sonic pollution. A native of Whangarei, Terry
Vaughan was founder of the original Kiwi Concert Party and worked for
many years in musical theatre in Australia. This is one of only two pieces
he composed for carillon.
3. Venetian
Gondolier's Song No.1 by Felix Mendelssohn [mp3, 3.3mbs]. From his
collection of keyboard pieces entitled Songs Without Words, this arrangement
shows some of the quieter subtleties possible on a mechanical-action
carillon.
4. Fantasia
No.1 for carillon by Staf Nees (excerpt) [mp3, 1.2mbs]. Nees was
former director of the Royal Carillon School 'Jef Denyn' and City Carillonist
in Mechelen, Belgium. This excerpt shows some marked contrasts typical
of the Flemish playing style
Carillonists
- Gladys Watkins (1932-1936) - see her biography on the online DNZB website
- John Randal (1937-1950, 1954-1983)
- Selwyn Baker (1950-1954)
- Timothy Hurd QSM (since 1984)