The Exhibition Place Carillon (originally the Carlsberg Carillon) is 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 ...

located at

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada.

History

In 1974, Carling-O'Keefe Breweries provided funding for the construction of the 50-bell carillon. The bells were cast by the

Royal Eijsbouts Royal Eijsbouts ( nl, Koninklijke Eijsbouts) is a bell foundry located in Asten, Netherlands. The workshop was founded in 1872 by Bonaventura Eijsbouts as a "factory for tower clocks." In 1893 Eijsbouts was joined by his 15-year-old son, Joha ...

foundry of Asten in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The largest bell (the bourdon) weighs 4800 pounds. The instrument transposes up a perfect fourth from

concert pitch Concert pitch is the pitch (music), pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are musical tuning, tuned for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from musical ensemble, ensemble to ensemble, and has varied widely over music history. ...

. Four of the large bells including the bourdon are equipped with outside hammers to sound the

Cambridge Quarters The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...

while the bourdon strikes the hour. Part way up the tower is a compartment with figures of the

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

fairy tale "

The Swineherd "The Swineherd" ( da, Svinedrengen) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a prince who disguises himself as a swineherd to win an arrogant princess. The tale was first published December 20, 1841 by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen ...

"; upon activation, these figures could be moved from one side of the tower to the other, but the mechanism is no longer functional. When the carillon was built, it was played most days of the week during the Exhibition summer season. The current carillonist is Gerald Martindale. The original plaque reads:

References

External links

Description of the Exhibition Place Carillon at towerbells.orgDescription of the "Bandshell Park Clock" above the carillon at waymarking.com
Bell towers in Canada Buildings and structures in Toronto Carillons Carlsberg Group Exhibition Place Towers completed in 1974 {{Toronto-stub

History

See also

References

External links