G&J carillon

[Richard Offen]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "jim phillips" <jim at p...> 
wrote:
> Did anyone listen to yesterday's broadcast of 'The Organist 
Entertains'? I 
> listened to a repeat on the BBC website today and was particularly 
> interested in a rendition of The Wedding March recorded in 1930 at 
what I 
> knew as the Odeon Cinema, Marble Arch which had a 32 bell G&J 
carillon in 
> the organ. The organist preceded the music by playing a brilliant 
burst on 
> the carillon which I thought showed what an excellent instrument it 
was.

It certainly was a fine instrument, as the several recordings of it 
commercially available demonstrate. The recording you mention Jim 
is from a digitally enhanced CD of the late Quentin Maclean 
(available from Sterndale Records, Cat No: STE 1315). The 
instrument can also be heard on one or two currently available CD 
transcriptions of the great 1930s organist Sydney Torch.

The carillon was part of the Odeon's (formerly the Regal, Marble 
Arch) huge 4 manual, 36 rank, Christie (theatre organ trading name 
for the organ builders Hill, Norman and Beard) theatre organ. It 
was cast by G & J and had a bass bell weighing 6-2-3 in C. The 
bells were played electro-pneumatically from the organ consol.

After the war I believe the carillon was disconnected because the 
patrons in the stalls complained that it was too loud! If my memory 
serves me right it was eventually sold and shipped off to somewhere 
in Belgium.

Richard