Bells in organs (Carillon stop)

[Richard Offen]

[I wouldn't mind betting that a good number, if not all, of Shaun 
Brown's so-called carillon stops, are in fact tubular chimes, and if 
not, then an electronic substitute. There were tubular chimes 
("Glockenspiel") of which there was a short recording on the site to 
which Richard directed us. The sound difference between these and the 
true carillon, which I remain convinced is the only one of its kind 
ever to have been built for and placed in an organ.]

David is absolutely right. I have sitting beside me here an entire 
shelf of books on the organ in this country and the rest of the 
world. I can find no reference to any other organ having a carillon 
of traditional cast bronze bells. 

Where the term "carillon" is employed by an organ builder, it usually 
refers to a set of tubular bells, steel plates, or a mixture stop 
usually containing three ranks of pipes sounding octave, third and 
fifth intervals, with the third rank being kept fairly prominent (a 
example of a mixture of this sort can be found on the choir manual of 
the organ of Manchester Town Hall).


[As for it not being historically significant. Well, SB's remarks 
frankly amaze me. Bah, Humbug, Sir. Here you have this marvellous 
instrument with the only true installation - purpose cast and built 
to produce the sounds which organ builders (even the bellfounding 
one, T. C. Lewis) had sought to manufacture by the use of tubular 
(etc) substitutes, and he says that it isn't historically 
significant! Both the organ and the bell fraternity stand condemned 
by the virtual loss of the instrument.]

Most theatre organs are considered historically significant these 
days and, after a long period of being ignored by the classical organ 
world, are being recognised for the extreme artistry of the pipe 
voicing employed by Compton, Christie and Wurlitzer, to name but 
three of the leading exponents.

But this still doesn't answer the question of where the carillon went 
to from Marble Arch? I'm 99.9% certain it is NOT stored with the 
rest of the instrument.


Richard