Richard Watson casts bells for Mercersburg
A small, rural town in south central Pennsylvania is home to a fine carillon. In that virtually all carillons in North America--including the one in Mercersburg--were produced abroad, it is significant that the carillon bells recently added to this instrument were cast and tuned by an American. Mercersburg Academy Director of Music, Organist, and Carillonneur James W. Smith sends the following news.
The first recital on Mercersburg's 43-bell carillon took place on October 12, 1926, with the famed Belgian carillonneur, Anton Brees, at the keyboard. The bells hung in the chapel spire virtually unchanged for seventy years. Richard Strauss renovated the playing mechanism in 1981. During the Academy's alumni weekend, October 11-13, 1996, a new era for the Swoope Carillon began. Six new bells, cast by the Meeks-Watson Company of Georgetown, Ohio, and a new American standard console were dedicated.
The funds for these additions came from the endowment established by the school's long-time carillonneur Bryan Barker. Mr. Barker gave his entire estate to the Academy for the maintenance of the carillon.
Several items of sentimental value were incorporated into the casting of each of the new bells. On the day Jim Smith was in Ohio for a casting, bell number forty-eight was being formed. When the bell was in the molten state, a badge which celebrated Black Awareness Day, from the early years of our headmaster's tenure, was put into the kiln. His senate pin was put into the kiln for bell number forty-six, representing his years at Mercersburg as a student.
When he taught here he smoked a pipe. The brass tamper he used during those years was placed into the molten metal of bell number forty-seven. In addition to these items, Bryan Barker's Columbia Scholastic Press lapel pin was melted into bell number forty-three, the largest of the new bells. Mr. Barker was advisor to The Mercersburg News for many years and was proud of his relationship with the Columbia Scholastic Press during that time. Eric Harris, a Chemistry teacher for many years at the Academy in whose memory the six new bells have been dedicated, is represented by a very special token sent to us by his widow, Rosamund Harris. During the Second World War, Mr. Harris was a group commander and wore the sterling silver wings of the Royal Air Force. Those wings were placed into bell number forty-five in his memory. Melted into the smallest bell, number forty-nine, was a Rotary Club pin belonging to the current music director.
The results of this project have been judged a great success. Several members of the GCNA were present during alumni weekend to help dedicate the new bells. These performers praised the quality of the work done by Meeks-Watson and judged the carillon to be a concert carillon of high quality. It has to be said that one of the reasons for the success of this project is that Richard Watson, a partner of the Meeks-Watson firm, has been a world-class carillonneur himself for over thirty-five years. As an expert player of the instrument, he is intimately involved with the repertoire and the need for a performer to have a sensitive and responsive instrument. He incorporated his artistic strengths into the design and function of the instrument.
Two essential changes were made to the mechanical action of the instrument. The new console is very quiet and sensitive, which allows for the ultimate in musical expression and dynamic control. For the bells to actually ring better, however, it was necessary to make some changes to the existing playing mechanism. Seventeen of the small bells were being struck by an external hammer rather than a traditional internal clapper. Changing the strike method provided an opportunity to realign several bells, bringing them closer to the console. As a result, several connecting wires were shortened. These changes reduced friction and weight, and with the new, internal clappers the overall sound and resonance of the upper bells were greatly improved. Another change was to bring the bells into concert pitch. Before this change the bells transposed down a whole step. Shifting the bells to concert pitch added a valued B-flat and E-flat to the keyboard.
The dedication of the new bells was a special occasion for everyone who attended the Academy's Alumni Weekend events for 1996. The new bells first sounded during a bonfire on Friday evening. The next day the largest bell, the 31/2-ton bourdon, tolled for a memorial service held for all Academy alumni and faculty who died during the previous year. That afternoon a full marathon of recitals took place, played by the many carillonneurs visiting here for the weekend. That day ended with a memorial recital at 7 pm for Anton Brees, the school's first carillonneur, who had played the first recital exactly seventy years ago at the same hour on October 12, 1926. That recital was played by the Academy's resident carillonneur and Music Director, James W. Smith. The recital was devoted exclusively to carillon arrangements by Bryan Barker, a student of Anton Brees in England and the carillonneur at Mercersburg for 51 years. Before coming to Mercersburg, Barker spent eighteen weeks at the University of Sydney training players for its new War Memorial Carillon. The chapel spire at Mercersburg was named Barker Tower in his honor in 1979.
The next morning there was a dedication for the six new bells during a chapel service. The Mercersburg Chorale sang an original anthem which included the carillon as part of the ensemble, and Mr. Barker's own arrangement of the Academy Hymn, "Jesus, I Live To Thee," was played. The highlight of the dedication service was the recital performance by Edward M. Nassor, carillonneur of Washington Cathedral and director of the Netherlands Carillon at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. As his first selection he performed his own composition which had been commissioned by the Academy for this occasion. The composition, Mercersburg Suite (Fanfare-Toccata with Variations on the Academy Hymn and The Mercersburg Alma Mater), was dedicated to Walter H. Burgin '54, Academy Headmaster from 1972 to 1997.
The weekend ended triumphantly with a recital at three o'clock performed by Lisa Lonie, carillonneur at Trinity Church, Holland, Pennsylvania, who was the first performer in this year's Robert M. and Dorothy Betz Kurtz recital series. These recitals continue each Sunday afternoon during the school year when the Academy is actually in session.
The new bells, the new console, and the reconstructed mechanism have all combined to create a wonderful and musically responsive instrument. Carillons can be as expressive as any other musical instrument when played well. But even the finest players are limited by the ability of the instrument to respond with equal sensitivity. The Swoope Carillon at Mercersburg has now taken its rightful place among the nation's truly great musical instruments. Thanks to Bryan Barker's legacy, these bells have taken on a new life.
