Exhibition Place Carillon

The Exhibition Place Carillon in 2015

The Exhibition Place Carillon (originally the Carlsberg Carillon) is a carillon located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada.

History

In 1974 the Carlsberg Company of Denmark (now called the Carlsberg Group) provided funding for the construction of the 50-bell carillon. The bells were cast by the Royal Eijsbouts foundry of Asten in the Netherlands. The largest bell (the bourdon) weighs 2250 kg (4960 pounds or 4 tonnes). The instrument transposes up a perfect fourth from concert pitch. Four of the large bells including the bourdon are equipped with outside hammers to sound the Cambridge Quarters while the bourdon strikes the hour. A unique feature of this carillon is that when the steel screen near the bottom of the tower is open, figures representing characters of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Swineherd" parade from one side to the other, one time every hour. When the carillon was built, it was played most days of the week during the Exhibition summer season. The current carillonneur is Gerald Martindale.

The original plaque reads:

"Carlsberg Carillon presented to the Canadian National Exhibition by Carling O'Keefe Breweries August 1974
Made by Royal Eijsbouts - Holland"
The Exhibition Place Carillon console (manual and pedals) in the playing chamber in 2015

Coordinates: 43°37′55″N 79°25′22″W / 43.63196°N 79.42284°W / 43.63196; -79.42284


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.