The carillon, as in the past, accompanies the daily life of the city. It will also be performed during the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. On September 1, municipal carillonist Monika Kaźmierczak will perform a new piece by POLITYKA Passport winner Aleksander Nowak, “Three Calls”, commissioned especially for this occasion, on the instrument located in the tower of the Main Town Hall.

This is not the first contemporary Polish piece for carillon – the city has already commissioned it; the collection is slowly being built. A special place there is occupied by the “Epitaph” in memory of President Paweł Adamowicz, written spontaneously by Katarzyna Długosz-Kwiecień, the night after his tragic death. The composer from Zielona Góra had already received an award for another piece for this instrument, and the president was very close to the issue of the carillons and he personally donated a pair of bells. The main motif of the piece is ada, after his last name, and at the end there is also gda – like Gdańsk. The piece was performed at the president’s funeral, but it had already been performed by carillonists from other countries as a show of solidarity – the premiere took place in Belgium. Monika Kaźmierczak, when giving concerts abroad, tries to include “Epitaph” in the program.

Fist in the stakes

For a chime to be a chime, it must meet two conditions. It must consist of at least 23 bells of different sizes and be able to be played by hand (otherwise it is just a carillon). It is played using a special keyboard made of wooden pegs, which are struck with the fists, and a pedal keyboard similar to an organ. The keys are connected to the bells by wires, either directly attached to the heart of the bell or connected to a hammer striking it.

The mechanism that activated the autoplay was once a drum, like that of today’s washing machines, covered with holes into which pins were inserted that triggered individual sounds.