Carillon French
Clochette[s] French
Glockenspiel German

A mixture of from two to six ranks, intended to imitate or suggest the sounds of bells. It usually contains one or more third-sounding ranks, voiced somewhat prominently. Audsley describes its characteristic features as being its scaling and voicing, and reports that good examples have been made by Cavaillé-Coll. Grove describes it as �an important Dutch Tierce Mixture found c1750-1850 as a kind of Echo Cornet�, and Williams adds that at that time and place it was composed of 3 ranks and found on Ruckpositiv divisions. Skinner defines it as a three-rank mixture consisting of a 12th, 17th and 22nd, breaking back in the top octave to a 5th, 10th and 15th, and composed of mild Gamba ranks of scale 56 to 58.

There are also percussion stops that goes by the names Carillon and Clochette[s] or Glockenspiel.

Compare with Jeu de Clochette.


Audsley gives the following example:

Carillon III
CC to E 171922
F to e1 151719
f1 to e2 121517
f2 to c4101215

Irwin gives the following incomplete examples, showing only the compositions at middle C:

Carillon II 1519
Carillon III 222426
Carillon III 151724
Carillon III 121722
Carillon VI 192226293136
Carillon VI 171922242629


Of the 60 examples of Carillon listed in Osiris, just over half are mixtures. Of the 10 examples of Clochette, 4 are mixtures. Of the 70 examples of Glockenspiel, only 3 are mixtures. The examples listed below include the oldest known ones.

Carillon III, Ruckwerk; Schlosskirche, Schleiden, Germany; König 1770.

Carillon III (4' + 1-3/5' + 1'), Bovenwerk; Cathedral-Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; Heynemann 1787. This example is of treble compass only, starting at middle C.

Carillon III-IV, Rugwerk; Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Vater 1724-26, Mueller 1738-42, Witte 1869-70. The stoplist annotates this stop �Mueller Tertscimbel�; see Terzzimbel.

Clochette II-III, Positiv; Santa María, Tolosa, Guipuzcoa, Spain; Stoltz 1885.

Clochette I, Gallery Positif; Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Casavant 1990. CC: 1/3', C2: 2/3', C3: 1-1/3'.

Clochettes II 1-1/3', Solo; Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Casavant 1996. Harmonic pipes.

Glockenspiel IV, Echo; Town Hall, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Hill 1886. Wood and metal.

Glockenspiel III, Swell; Church of the Epiphany, Washington DC, USA; Aeolian-Skinner 1968.

Glockenspiel II, Choir; National Cathedral, Washington DC, USA; Skinner 1939, 1975.


Audsley[1]: Carillon. Audsley[2]: I.XIII Carillon. Grove[1]: Carillon. Irwin[1]: Carillon. Locher[1]: Carillon. Maclean[1]: Carillon. Skinner[1]: 47; XII Carillon. Sumner[1]: Carillon. Wedgwood[1]: Carillons. Williams[1]: Glossary: Carillon.
Carillon.html - Last updated 5 January 2003.
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