Crawford, Wylie

The carillon is considered to be the world's largest (or at least heaviest) musical instrument, and contains at least 23 bronze bells (or a two-octave range). It is usually housed in a bell tower and is played by striking the batons and foot pedals of a special keyboard that connects to each bell's clapper. Bell-tuning techniques were developed mainly in the Low Countries in the mid-17th century, and bell foundries and carillons flourished afterward in Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Starting around the middle of the 20th century, the United States experienced a boom in carillon interest, building towers and importing bells for university campuses, civic centers, and city parks. Today, carillonneurs can be members of numerous international and regional associations which organize outreach efforts and allow for discussions of performance technique, of the history of the instrument and its present and future states, and of the idiomatic music composed for the carillon. A large part of this collection documents the history and proceedings of many of these national and international professional organizations of carillonneurs.

The carillon donated to the University of Chicago chapel by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and installed in 1932, known as the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Carillon (named after the donor's mother), is the second largest carillon in the world. Its sister carillon in New York's Riverside Church (with the same name, donor, and from the same foundry) was built around the same time and eventually included two more bells than Chicago. Never before had carillons of this size been built, and they proved to be the masterworks of the British bell foundry Gillett & Johnston. The collection of the University of Chicago carillon bells took three years to cast and is comprised of 72 bells (6 octaves) and over 100 tons of bronze, with the largest bourdon bell weighing in at 18.5 tons and sounding a low C#. Since the 1930s, the various, successive University carillonneurs have led concerts and festivals, programmed regular recitals, led student teaching, and been the visible representatives of this extraordinary instrument. More recently, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Carillon underwent major restoration from 2006 to 2008.

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