bell chime

bell chime, (from medieval Latin cymbala, meaning “bells”) set of stationary bells tuned in a musical series, traditionally in diatonic sequence (seven-note scale) plus a few accidentals (sharps and flats). The bells generally number from 2 to 20 and, in the voorslags (automatic clock chimes) of Belgium and the Netherlands, can have a range of up to three octaves or more. The bell chime’s primary function is the automatic play preceding the hour strike of a church or town-hall tower clock to alert to its imminence; it may also play on the half, quarter, and, sometimes, eighth hour. A secondary role is the human play of simple unharmonized melodies. From the 13th century this was done manually by pulling ropes attached to clappers (“clocking,” now rare); from the late 18th century by a keyboard of levers and sometimes pedals, called a chime stand; and in the 20th century by an ivory keyboard with electric action, often in conjunction with automatic roll-play. To chime also refers to the clock’s striking of the bells or chimes and to their music; in England, change-ringing bells swinging in a limited arc rather than a full-circle arc are said to chime.

The chime differs from a carillon in that its range is more limited and may not have a full 12-note (chromatic) scale. Until the 20th century its bells generally lacked an inner tuning, or fixed mathematical relationship of partials (component tones of a bell’s complex sound) to permit use of harmony; it also lacks dynamic variation. But in Belgium and the Netherlands, automatic clock chimes produce fully harmonized music of considerable complexity, their bells having an inner tuning. Universally, the clock-chiming mechanism has been a drum pegged to trip levers wired to the bell hammers; rotated by a suspended weight, it is actuated by the clockworks.

The chime tune most commonly heard in English-speaking countries is the “Westminster Quarters” (originally “Cambridge Quarters”), consisting of the four notes E–D–C–G in various combination each quarter hour. Composed at Cambridge University by an organ student, William Crotch, for use with the new clock at Great St. Mary’s Church, in 1793, its subsequent use in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, London (1859), resulted in its present name. Also frequently heard is the “ting-tang,” or repeated alternation of two notes, adopted at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Other chime tunes of note are the “Bells of Aberdovey,” “Turn Again, Whittington,” and “Holsworthy Tune.”

The earliest chimes were Chinese stone chimes, sets of L-shaped marble slabs (qing) suspended in wooden frames and struck by mallets. These instruments were used as early as the Shang dynasty (1766–1122 bce). By the Zhou dynasty (c. 1122–221 bce), bronze bells (zhong) were hung downward, usually in sets of 8 or 16, and tuned chromatically. A bianzhong (“set of bells”) from the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) contain bell sets in which different pitches can be produced by striking marked spots on the lip of each bell. Bell chimes were part of court and temple ensembles. Their tunings were reset with each new ruler to keep China in harmony with the universe. Later, bell chimes were used in neighbouring cultures, such as those of Korea, India, and Japan.

In the 9th century, sequences of small beehive-shaped bells, numbering 4 to 15, were introduced in Western monasteries. Western chime bells, like the Chinese ones, were mounted on horizontal supports to be struck with mallets. The instrument itself, like the bells, was called a cymbala. In the 12th century, cymbala were wired to organ keys, thus forming the first organ chimes. The knowledge of tuning acquired with the cymbala resulted in the design of differently pitched bells placed in towers and struck by jacquemarts, or clock jacks (usually a pair of knights in armour), to mark the hours. The introduction of the weight-driven tower clock led to the invention of the pegged chiming barrel in the 14th; by the 17th century about 500 European chimes utilized this automatic action.

Late in the 18th century a chime of 10 to 20 bells playable from a wooden keyboard became fashionable in France and Great Britain. In the U.S. between about 1850 and 1930, hundreds of such chimes were installed in churches, town halls, and other towers.

The Russian zvony (“chimes”) are sets of stationary bells rung by pulling ropes attached to clappers. They date from the 9th century but are rarely heard today. The zvon plays repetitious rhythmic patterns that form a part of the liturgy of the Orthodox Church. See also bell; carillon; change ringing.