Personal Narrative: My First Carillonneur

On August 16, 2015, I attended my very first carillonneur recital at the Grand Valley State University’s Cook Carillon. I was not sure what to expect. What I saw was most definitely not what I expected. It was a new experience for me and I learned about a new kind of music that I was ignorant about. Before going to a concert or recital it helps the viewer if they do a little research on what they will be listening to or viewing. I failed in this category and that became apparent as I walked up to what I thought was a simply clock tower. I saw many older people in lawn chairs clearly away from any of the buildings. I knew that they were they to observe the same recital as I was; however, I was confused by their seating choices. The recital

It sounds like someone playing the bells, while it undertakes a tone of an organ and the chimes. This information would have been helpful to know before attending the recital. I grabbed a program from a gentleman. I began to read the short biography on Jonathan Hebert the Canadian Carillonneur who was not in a clock tower, but in the carillon. It all started to make sense. As I looked up at the carillon, I could not help but notice the Michigan state flag, the American flag and the Canadian flag flying on the tower. The flowers below the carillon were red and white and I could tell that Hebert heritage was important to him. This validated him for me. I peered over his song choices and there were three from his native land. He played eleven different pieces. Once of which was a suite written by Frank DellaPenna and included four different parts. The tones of the four parts help separate each part. The suite was about a storm and was separated by the calm before the storm, the thunder, the rain and the calm after the storm. He uses consonance and dissonance to evoke the listener’s feelings as to what was happening in each