Carillon Tunes

The Carillon
A carillon is a set of tuned bells arranged so that music can be played on them. The 25 carillon bells were donated at three different times. The first bell was given by the class of 1898 on their tenth reunion in 1908. In 1926, Eugene Bowen donated nine bells. In 1966, a further fifteen bells and the first carillon mechanism were donated in honor of the first provost of Tufts University, John Tilton. Today, the 25 bells (F, G, then A to g’ chromatically) are playable from an electronic keyboard console made by the Verdin company of Cincinatti, Ohio, which also enables the recording of anything from a sequence of chimes to an elaborate tune. Usually the carillon plays a hymn tune at 5:00pm daily, which is chosen and recorded monthly by the music director of the chapel. You can find the list of carillon tune archives here.