The Rainbow Tower is a tower located at the Rainbow Plaza

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

station of the Rainbow Bridge in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

, Canada. Construction on the tower was completed in 1947. The tower, part of the Canadian plaza of the bridge, was designed by Canadian architect William Lyon Somerville.

The Rainbow Carillon

The Rainbow Tower houses 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 ...

—a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

consisting of a baton

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

that controls a series of bells. The Rainbow Carillon is sounded three times a day, 365 days a year. It features 55 bells with a total weight of over 43 tons. The instrument is controlled via a series of 55 oak batons and pedals. The largest bell, called a bourdon, is in diameter and tall, weighing in at 10 tons. Musically the pitch of this bell is E. The smallest bell in the instrument weighs less than and has a circumference of . The bell castings for the Rainbow Carillon were begun in 1941 by

John Taylor Bellfounders 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), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but interrupted by the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Work on the instrument resumed in 1945 and was completed by 1947. When the tower was built it contained a small apartment for the resident

carillonneur 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 ...

. The bells were silenced for renovations from 1998 to 2001 and by 2002, the

Niagara Falls Bridge Commission The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission is an international public agency which administers three international bridges across the Niagara River connecting the province of Ontario, Canada, and the state of New York, United States: the Lewiston–Queen ...

had replaced the resident carillonneur with a fully automated system. The instrument can still be played manually, but is mostly automated to allow for frequent playing.

Carillonneurs

Several Canadians and at least two Americans (Kleinschmidt and Werblow) have served as carillonneurs: * Robert B. Kleinschmidt (1910-1959) 1948-1959 * John Leland Richardson (1906-1969) 1960-1969 * Gordon Frederick Slater (1950-) 1972-1975 * Robert Donnell (1910-1986) 1975-1976 * June Somerville 1976-1992 * Gloria Werblow 1986-1998

In film

The Rainbow Tower was featured in the 1953

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

thriller '' Niagara''. Scenes were filmed outside the base of the tower, combined with sound stage footage. The long "tracking" shot of Marilyn Monroe was completed in one shot, unique in "Three-Strip" Technicolor.

References

Sources

* {{coord, 43.0919, N, 79.0702, W, display=title Towers completed in 1947 Buildings and structures in Niagara Falls, Ontario Carillons Bell towers in Canada Towers in Ontario

The Rainbow Carillon

Carillonneurs

In film

See also

References

Sources