Sound Excerpts performed by Timothy Hurd QSM, National Carillonist 

1.    From Assembled Masses (1998) by Timothy Hurd and John Gibson.
Commissioned by the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, with the assistance of Creative New Zealand, the piece was conceived as a showcase for the additions to the range of the instrument in 1996-97. An improvisatory framework using a separate motif for each day of the three-week Festival produced a very large work for solo carillon, lasting approximately 3 1/2 hours. In this excerpt from the start of Day 7, ascending chromatic scales set against descending single bass notes build up incredible resonances on the bells.

2.    Lake Music (1970) by New Zealander Terry Vaughan, commissioned for the opening of the Canberra Carillon. This piece has become something of a theme song for the Canberra instrument: the lake referred to is Lake Burley Griffin, where the Carillon is ideally situated on a man-made island, far away from urban sonic pollution. A native of Whangarei, Terry Vaughan was founder of the original Kiwi Concert Party and worked for many years in musical theatre in Australia. This is one of only two pieces he composed for carillon. 

3.    Venetian Gondolier's Song No.1 by Felix Mendelssohn. 
From his collection of keyboard pieces entitled Songs Without Words, this arrangement shows some of the quieter subtleties possible on a mechanical-action carillon. 

4.    Fantasia No.1  for carillon by Staf Nees (excerpt).
Nees was former director of the Royal Carillon School 'Jef Denyn' and City Carillonist in Mechelen, Belgium. This excerpt shows some marked contrasts typical of the Flemish playing style. 

Links to other carillon sites

World Carillon Federation 
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
National Carillon Museum of The Netherlands
University of Sydney War Memorial Carillon 
About the Carillon