Albany City Hall

Albany City Hall

Links to Carillon Inventories
GCNA	Tower Bells	Bok Tower Gardens

Plaque Honoring Donors

William Gorham Rice suggested that the City of Albany install a municipal carillon in its existing City Hall tower in a letter to Mayor James R. Watt on December 18, 1918. The proposed carillon would be a lasting monument to the soldiers killed in the Great War. A month earlier, James Marion Shull had proposed construction of a National Peace Carillon in Washington, D.C. as a war memorial.

Rice proposed that the carillonneur be a city employee, but the city's Republican administration balked at the idea as their organization had not a single carillonneur. This was not surprising as there were no modern carillons installed in the U.S. until 1922.

Despite some early enthusiasm, fund raising did not start until the local Kiwanis Club adopted the project in January 1926. Over the next sixty days, more than $45,000 was raised from more than 25,000 citizens. Bids were then sought from two bell foundries in the United States and two in Europe. In June a contract was signed with the John Taylor Bell Foundry of Loughborough, England, to cast 60 bells to play 47 notes.

These were dedicated on September 18, 1927 with a recital given by Jef Denyn of Mechelen, Belgium.

The original carillon clavier was the first to have black and white keys. An electric playing mechanism was installed in 1959 and removed in 1986, when 30 Taylor treble bells replaced the originals to net the current 49 bells. .

References
1918 "Col. Rice Urges Carillon Plan as War Tribute," The Albany Argus, December 19, 1918, Page 9.
Wants Set of Well Attuned Bells Placed in City Hall Tower. Expense Placed at $7,000.

1918 "Carillon Plan Upset, G.O.P. Organization has No Carillonneur," The Albany Argus, December 20, 1918, Page 1.

1918 "Chimes of Liberty," Watertown Daily Times, December 20, 1918, Page 4.

1918 "Carillon Suggestion Has Albany Ringing," The Albany Argus, December 21, 1918, Page 3.
Colonel Rice's Memorial Proposal Brings Ready Response.

1918 "Urge C. of C. to Back Carillon," The Albany Argus, December 22, 1918, Page 12.
Citizen Bewails Fact That Body is Apathetic Over Suggestion.

1919 "Arch with Carillon Tower May Commemorate War's End," by J. Marion Shull, Washington Sunday Star, January 12, 1919, Page 2-6
The city of Albany is moving for and doubtless will secure a memorial carillon to be installed in the splendid tower of the city hall there, thus emulating such cities as Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Malines, and many others that have not hesitated to devote large sums of public money to this great ivi music, a music which gives constant joy to thousands.

1926 "Make the Albany City Hall A Singing Tower as Soldiers' Memorial," The Albany Times-Union, January 13, 1926, Page 6.

1927 "Will Publish Carillon Booklet," Albany Times-Union, March 28, 1927, Page 7.
Six pieces of ancient carillon metal from the collection of William Gorham Rice, obtained in various journeys abroad, have been given to the committee. These have been sent to John Taylor and company of Loughborough, England, bell founders, and will be melted and embodied in the Albany Carillon.

1927 "Carillon a Big Success," Albany Times-Union, September 19, 1927, Page 13.

1927 "First U.S. Carillon Resounds in Albany," Democrat and Chronicle, September 19, 1927, Page 1.
Albany tonight dedicated the first municipal carillon in the country when Jef Denyen, Belgian carillonnieur, struck the opening notes on the sixty bell group in the tower of city hall.

1927 The Albany Singing Tower: The Book of the Carillon, by William Gorham Rice.

1930 Carillon Music and Singing Towers of the Old World and the New, Revised and Enlarged, by William Gorham Rice
Pages 272-273a: Chapter XXVII: Albany
Pages 377-380: The Albany Carillon

1997 "Jef Denyn's 1927 Albany Concert," by Charles Semowich, Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America 46:48-54 (1997)

1990 "The 1989 GCNA Congress (Albany, New York)," by John Ellis, Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America 39:7-13 (1990)
The Albany City Hall Carillon was installed in 1927 by the John Taylor Company of Loughborough, England, and it was dedicated by Jet Denyn. In 1986 the carillon received extensive renovation as part of the three hundredth anniversary celebration of the city. The magnificent bass bells were kept, 30 new treble bells were cast by Taylor, a new playing cabin was built, a new console was added, and a new transmission system was installed by using a very different design concept from that usually employed by Taylor.