carillon

American  

[kar-uh-lon, -luhn, kuh-ril-yuhn] / ˈkær əˌlɒn, -lən, kəˈrɪl yən /

noun

1. a set of stationary bells hung in a tower and sounded by manual or pedal action, or by machinery.

2. a set of horizontal metal plates, struck by hammers, used in the modern orchestra.

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carillon British  

/ kəˈrɪljən /

noun

1. a set of bells usually hung in a tower and played either by keys and pedals or mechanically

2. a tune played on such bells

3. an organ stop giving the effect of a bell

4. a form of celesta or keyboard glockenspiel

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verb

1. (intr) to play a carillon

Etymology

Origin of carillon

1765–75; < French: set of bells, Old French car ( e ) ignon, quarregnon < Vulgar Latin *quadriniōn-, re-formation of Late Latin quaterniōn- quaternion; presumably originally a set of four bells

Explanation

If you wake up in the morning to bells coming from a nearby church tower, the instrument that is being played is a carillon. A carillon is simply a set of bells in a tower. The Old French ancestor of this word is carignon. The car part of this word traces back to the Latin word for "four," so a carignon was a set of four bells. Today, however, a carillon can have many many bells. Though you might picture someone playing it by pulling giant strings one after another, it is usually played by a keyboard that controls the bells. Some play automatically, with notes etched into a metal roll like you might find on a player piano (also called a pianola).

Example Sentences

Charles Semowich, who plays the carillon inside the 392-foot tower at Riverside Church, said he hears occasional screeching outside his window.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 3, 2024

The final gesture comes as a surprise: a sudden, brilliant cascade from opposite ends of the keyboard toward the center, a carillon from the beyond.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2022

Frank was 10 when his father took him into the carillon tower at Maastricht’s city hall.

From Washington Post • May 11, 2022

The bells were part of a carillon that accompanied chants inside the church, said Franciscan friar Father Stephane, the Custody's liturgist.

From Reuters • Dec. 21, 2021

The old carillonneur, Jean Courtray, began to speak in a low voice of his art, his profession, and of the great carillon of forty-six bells in the ancient tower of Sainte Lesse.

From Barbarians by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)