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

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 () is a bell foundry located in Asten, Netherlands. Background 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, Johan, and the works ...

foundry of Asten in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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

concert pitch Concert pitch is the pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from ensemble to ensemble, and has varied widely over time. The ISO defines international standard pitch as A440, ...

. Four of the large bells including the bourdon are equipped with outside hammers to sound the Cambridge Quarters 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, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

fairy tale "

The Swineherd "The Swineherd" () 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, Denmark in '' F ...

"; 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 Exhibition Place Carillon manual

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