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The Cornell Chimes is a 21-bell chime in McGraw Tower on the central campus of
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, in
Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The chime originally had nine bells, donated by
Jennie McGraw Jennie McGraw, also Jennie McGraw Fiske, (September 14, 1840 – September 30, 1881) was the daughter of John McGraw, millionaire philanthropist to Cornell University and Rhoda Charlotte Southworth. In 1868, she gave the university a set of ch ...
. They first rang at the University's opening ceremonies on October 7, 1868, and have since marked the hours and been used for chiming concerts. The tower, long called "the Library Tower", was renamed in 1961. Whether the new name was intended to honor Jennie McGraw or her father, trustee
John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...
, was not specified at the time.


The Cornell Chimes

The bells are played by a group of "chimesmasters." About ten chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the school year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, making it one of the largest and most frequently played chimes in the world. The chimes are sometimes mistakenly called a "
carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...
" which is incorrect as a true carillon has at least 23 bells, and a different playing console. Many styles of music are played on the bells, including classical and modern pieces by a range of composers, including
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
,
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
,
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
, and
Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...
. Commonly played pieces include
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's ''
Pomp and Circumstance Marches The ''Pomp and Circumstance Marches'' (full title ''Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches''), Op. 39, are a series of five (or six) marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. The first four were published between 1901 and 1907 ...
'' and the theme from ''
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...
'', as well as a multitude of original compositions. The chimes' music library contains over two-thousand specially arranged pieces and original compositions—both solos and
duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
s. Every morning concert, since 1869, has begun with the "Cornell Changes" (affectionately known as the "Jennie McGraw Rag"). The chimesmasters' goal is to play its 549 notes as quickly as possible. The Cornell "Alma Mater" is played at the midday concert, and the "Cornell Evening Song" at the end of the evening concert. Each spring semester potential chimesmasters, "compets", undergo a rigorous ten-week competition to become a chimesmaster. The only requirement to compete is an ability to read music and the energy to climb the 161 steps to operate the playing clavier (there is no mechanical assistance). The first stage of competition requires that compets learn the three traditional Cornell pieces (the "Jenny McGraw Rag," the "Alma Mater," and the "Cornell Evening Song"). Compets play a practice instrument, where the levers strike tuned bars with hammers (like a
xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...
), allowing them to learn the instrument without the whole campus listening. To advance to the next round of competition, compets must demonstrate their mastery of the three songs, in addition to sight reading a piece. This audition is played on the main chimes console, but compets only press the dampers halfway, and therefore the chimes remain silent. Those who pass the silent audition move on to coached concerts, and then, finally, judged concerts, where compets take on the full responsibilities of a chimesmaster. The Cornell Chimes welcome visitors to all concerts.


McGraw Tower

In 1873 the chimes were moved from a ground-level playing stand to McGraw Hall. In 1891, they were moved to their permanent home atop McGraw Tower, designed by Cornell alumnus William Henry Miller. The 173-foot (53 m) tower is Cornell's most prominent landmark and is adjacent to Uris Library. The tower is also home to an office, museum, practice room, and a restored 1875 Seth Thomas clock with a 14-foot
pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...
. Visitors can still see the
clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...
s and
pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...
, but the clock was linked to the
Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
in 1999.


Pranks

On October 8, 1997, a
pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
appeared atop the spire of McGraw Tower. How it was placed there is not publicly known. Because of the danger involved in retrieving it, administrators decided to leave it until it rotted and fell off. However, the pumpkin rapidly dried out in the cold air and remained on the tower until it was removed with a crane on March 13, 1998 (it was planned that Provost Don M. Randel would remove it, but in a practice run the crane basket was blown by a gust of wind and knocked the pumpkin off). Some people said a real pumpkin could not stay up that long without rotting and that it must be artificial. However, subsequent morphological,
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
, and DNA analysis by faculty members and undergraduates confirmed that it was indeed a pumpkin. In April 2005, a
disco ball A disco ball (also known as a mirror ball or glitter ball) is a roughly spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display. Its surface consists of hundreds or thousands of facets, nearly all of ...
was attached to the top of the tower. A crane was hired to remove the offending orb, costing the university about $20,000. On December 1, 2019, a large Santa Claus hat was discovered on top of the tower.


See also

*
Altgeld Chimes The Senior Memorial Chime, known more commonly as the Altgeld Chimes, is a 15-bell chime in Altgeld Hall Tower on the central campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in Urbana, Illinois, United States. The chime was a gift from th ...
* ''
Far Above Cayuga's Waters "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" is Cornell University's alma mater. The lyrics were written circa 1870 by roommates Archibald Croswell Weeks (Class of 1872), and Wilmot Moses Smith (Class of 1874), and set to the tune of "Annie Lisle", a popular 1 ...
''


References


External links


Cornell Chimes Websiteentry on McGraw TowerVideo of chimes being played - Part 1Video of chimes being played - Part 2Video of chimes being played - Part 3
{{coord, 42.44757, -76.48505, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title
Chimes Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...
Bells (percussion) Clock towers in New York (state)