Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-18
CARLTON, TRIBUTE
TO SOLDIER DEAD
National Geographic Society
Bulletin Describes Pros
pective Attraction.

tional carlton in this city as a tribute
to the soldier dead, a bulletin of the
National Geographic Society says:
Contact with the men and women
of Flanders has directed American
attention to one kind of music vital
in the national lives of these people.
which cannot even be heard in this
country. We have welcomed Italian
t.norS Austrian violinists Russian
pianiSts and French and German or
chestra leaders. but we have evinced
no interest in the Belgian carlton
neur, nor have We, within the con
fines of our country. one mechanical
instrument whereby we could DEM
onstrate his music.
Prospective Treat for Warrington.
Soon from high tower vibrant
bells may watt over Washington at
twilight such strains as have for
centuries rung out from the towers
Of Belgium and Holland on days of
national feStivity or crisis and which,
in 1914. challenged the Germans from
such carillons as those of Louvain,
Antwerp. Bruges, Malines or Client
with defiant bracanconnes as the in
vaders approached their gates
"A carlton is made up of a set of
tower bells attuned to the intervals
of the chromatic scale. usually cover
ing d range of four octaves. To at
! tain such range the bell producing
the lowest note must weigh several
tons. while the smallest weighs
scarcely twenty pounds. The bells are
connected to a keyboard or to clock
work mechanism. which causes their
clappers to strike. Producing music
| from the bells requires great skill
and dexterity on the part of the bell
master, for he must use his feet for
| the larger bells. and the muscles OF
both his wrist and elbow are brought
into play In producing the tremolando
effect usually given. A fine carlton
is not the result of a chance molding
of metal, but it's making is as much
an achievement wrought by wise
combination of excellent material and
deep thought as a Stradivarius. Low
ers of carlton music compare the
tones to those of a pianaforte in deli
cacy and to organ in majesty.
When touched by the hand of mas
ter like Denyn, the wizard of Malipes
! the music seems to come veritabIy
from the heavens ana TO settle in
peace and benediction over the sur
rounding country.
Used BY Germans in War.
The Germans melted down many of
the Belgian carillons during the war
for munitions. dealing their enemies
| an even more cruel blow in humilia-
ton than in the actual physical Ill
done to them. Many an old Flemish
|
many an old man who had labored in
| fields whose crops would be conhs
Gated to feed German troops, felt
loneliness and desolating silence
| creep over them at twilight without
| their beloved bells.
80 closely has this love of bell
music grown into the national life
| of the people of the low countries of
Europe that II has lured to their
! shores poets and writers from other
/ %41
Stevenson paid tributes to their sill
very tones. and, to Victor Hugo's i'm
! aginative mind, the spirit of the CARL
| lon Of Mechlin became personif1ed as
! a dancer scattering magic notes on
| sleeping world as she tripped from
i the heavens down a crystal staircase.
| To the people who live within the
| shadows of these towers the bells
possess a personal as well as an his
| toric significance for having been
connected with some stirring event.
| Many of the peasants are connois-
seurs of bell music and can tell the
names and tones of the individual
| bells in carlton.
! From the even rows OF red-topped
roofs and the trees of the surrounding
fat topped Gothic spire of ST Rom
bauld once arose. The cathedral
dated from the thirteenth century and
has for hundreds of years been known
| the world over for the remarkable
silyerv quality of it's bells. So much
attention had been given to making
| il the best of it's kind that its bell
makers gained wide regulations and
the town itself became the headquar-
ters of bell founding.
Seemed to Dominate City.
1.-The tower, vast and mysterious
against the luminous sky, seemed to
dominate the city. While compelling
the attention it stirred the imagina-
| ton as it kept watch over Malines
and tolled the passing of the hours
with its hugest bell When not at
| tacbed to the wonderful mechanism
that controlled the ringing of the
carillon this bell required eight men
/ To ring it, The range of the bells of
| tbis carlton was great enough to adj
| mil of many difficult operate selec-
lions. Today the majestic tower min
| gies it's dust with that Of the ruined
eitv ever which it had for centuries
guarded.
| "rhe carlton Of Antwerp possessed
the greatest number Of bells of any
! IN FIanders-sixty-five 1t has been
said that from the cathedral tower
on a clear morning 126 carillons could
| he seen. High above the heads OF
puny mortals they held converse with
| each other in clear vibrant tones or
melodious whispers.
| "Of tie once quaint. sQuatty church
OF st. Martin. at DiXmude. not one
stone remains upon another TO tell
If It's solemnity and exquisite Gothic
beauty. or to suggest the tower from
| ,ybicb its harmonies drifted.