ROCHESTER, Minn. – It’s been so cold that the signature Mayo carillon bells have been silent in downtown Rochester. Like the cracked Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the 56 bronze cup-shaped bells run the risk of fracture in extreme cold, especially the larger ones. The largest is nearly six feet talland weighs 7,840 pounds. The precisely tuned bells are in the Plummer building and ring every quarter hour weekdays. Temperature extremes can disharmonize their chords. There are occasional recitals. This is not the first time carrilon bells have been silent. At the beginning of the pandemic, the chief carriloneur, Austin Ferguson, had to stop ringing the bells for three months. Now he is hoping to get back up in the bell tower next week if the weather warms a little.
Plummer Building. Best place to listen is within 500 feet.
Hoisting four tons in 1928. No small feat going up 290 feet.
About carrillons
The bells do not swing. Rather, they are rigidly fixed to supporting beams that are housed in a tower. Clappers, pulled by wires, strike the inside surface of the bells to create music. The carillonneur sits at a keyboard console with a double row of oak keys and a pedal board. The keys and pedals move the clappers inside the bell. The carilloneur’s art originated more than 500 years ago in the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France. There are 180 carillons in the United States and Canada, most at at colleges and churches.
Mayo’s carillons
The Rochester carrilons wer a community project to honor World War I soldiers. William J. and Charles H. Mayo volunteered their Plummer Building modified the building’s plans were altered to create a tower to accommodate the carillon. The 23 bells were cast in Croydon, England, and consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury before shipment to the United States. The carillon was dedicated in 1928. In 2006, the smallest bell from 1928 was found to be cracked and replaced. It was recast from its original mold by the John Taylor & Co. bell foundry of Loughborough, England. In 2018 and 2019, the carillon underwent a renovation to conform to the new world standard socarillonneurs from around the world will feel comfortable when playing recitals. The Mayo carrolin has had four resident carriloneurs in its near 90 years.