The National Carillon is a large

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 harmoni ...

situated on Queen Elizabeth II Island in

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Wal ...

, central

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...

, Australia. The carillon is managed and maintained by the

National Capital Authority The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of the ...

on behalf of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. It has 57 bells, ranging nearly 5

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s from the bass bell in F# to the treble bell in D.

History

The carillon was a gift from the British government to the people of Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the national capital, Canberra. The structure was the subject of a limited competition between three selected Australian architects and three selected British architects. Assessors of the competition were Lord Holford, Sir Donald Gibson and Sir John Overall (Chairman of the

National Capital Development Commission The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of the ...

). The winners were the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

n firm of

Cameron Chisholm Nicol Cameron Chisholm Nicol (CCN) is an Australian multi-disciplinary architecture practice. Established in Perth in 1884 by James William Wright, the firm has operated continuously in Western Australia since that time. The Brisbane office was opened i ...

. The carillon was designed in 1967, built during 1969 and completed in 1970. The three columns of the design symbolise the British and Australian governments and the City of Canberra.

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

officially opened the National Carillon on 26 April 1970. The carillon has a symbolic value in the link between Britain and Australia. It also has some historic value for its association with the commemoration of the 50th jubilee of the founding of Canberra. The tower stands tall. The concept was developed in 1968 by Don Ho, an architect at Cameron Chisholm Nicol. The carillon bells and mechanism were designed and constructed by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The carillon is a good example of the late twentieth century

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

style. Its use of strong shapes which are boldly composed, the diagonal line of the roofs, large areas of blank wall, use of precast non load-bearing wall panels and strongly vertical windows and openings are all features of this style.

2019 upgrade

In 2019, the carillon was upgraded with a new clavier, a fully replaced transmission and the addition of 2 new bells to add the lowest

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

and a new highest bell. The new lowest semitone bell was called the

Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages from the Pama-Nyungan ...

bell, in recognition of the first peoples of the Canberra region. This bell weighs just over 5

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

and sounds the note G. The other bell added was a new lightest bell to extend the rage of the instrument to nearly 5 octaves. This work was carried out by John Taylor & Co. The work was delayed by the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Characteristics

Carillons must have at least 23

bells Bells may refer to: * Bell, a musical instrument Places * Bells, North Carolina * Bells, Tennessee * Bells, Texas * Bells Beach, Victoria, an internationally famous surf beach in Australia * Bells Corners, Ontario Music * Bells, directly st ...

to be considered as such, and the National Carillon has 57. It was initially installed with 53, and increased to 55 during refurbishments in 2003-2004. Each bell weighs between and . The bells span four and a half

octaves In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

chromatically. John Douglas Gordon, after whom the Queen Elizabeth II Island footbridge is now named, played the inaugural recital. The carillon features moderate-size function facilities for small gatherings offering views over Lake Burley Griffin and central Canberra. The carillon is in regular use, chiming every quarter-hour and playing a short tune on the hour along with tours and recitals on many days. For example, there is usually a recital of carols on Christmas Eve each year with music being played for around an hour at dusk. The best place to listen to the carillon is suggested to be within of the building though the sound can usually be heard much further away in the

Parliamentary Triangle The National Triangle, which is referred to as the Parliamentary Triangle, is the ceremonial precinct of Canberra, containing some of Australia's most significant buildings. The National Triangle is formed by Commonwealth, Kings and Constitutio ...

, Kingston and

Civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: General *Civics, the science of comparative government *Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community *Civic center, a comm ...

. The quarter-hourly chimes of the National Carillon are reminiscent of those of

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

at London's

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

Links to memorials

The adjacent

National Workers Memorial The National Labor College was a college for union members and their families, union leaders and union staff in Silver Spring, Maryland. Established as a training center by the AFL–CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizin ...

was constructed with the idea that people attending would hear the sound of bells from the carillon, which would assist them in remembering their loved ones.

Gallery

File:National Carillon (Canberra) - bells.jpg, National Carillon bells File:Balloon and National Carillon (437591836).jpg, Hot air balloon over

, showing the National Carillon File:Carillon - Playing.jpg, The carillon keyboard File:Canberra Lake Burley Griffin Sunset-10 (5515585226).jpg, Carillon at sunset, 2011 File:Platinum Jubilee- National Carillon, Canberra.jpg, alt=, The National Carillon illuminated in royal purple for the

Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the Platinum jubilee, 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952, the first British monarch to ever celebrate one. In the Un ...

References

Attribution

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{Canberra landmarks 1970 establishments in Australia Bell towers Brutalist architecture in Australia Buildings and structures in Canberra Carillons Commonwealth Heritage List places in the Australian Capital Territory Landmarks in Canberra Tourist attractions in Canberra Towers completed in 1970 Towers in Australia