Traditional carillons in Europe:
index by weight (pitch)

NOTE:   Great Britain and Ireland are separately indexed, as are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia (Nordic countries, Iceland and Danish dependencies).

The table below is an index to 40 existing traditional carillons in Europe, in order by the pitch of the bourdon (heaviest bell of the main keyboard range).  Instruments with the same bourdon pitch are in descending order by number of bells, then by missing semitones, then by country.  The key to the four column headings is at the end of the table, along with some other notes.

    Location (City : Country)              Note  Chr  Nr  Transp

bourdon in the bass octave (20000 to 3000 kg) - 5 instruments NOTE: Bells pitched at G or heavier (and sometimes also G#) qualify as great bells of Europe.

KUBINKA - A                   : RUSSIA       C   +Z   78    0
MAFRA - S                     : PORTUGAL     F    Y   53   -2
ALVERCA                       : PORTUGAL     G    *   69    0
SAINT PETERSBURG - PK/3       : RUSSIA       A#   X   51    0
MAFRA - N                     : PORTUGAL     A#  +Z   45    0

bourdon in the middle octave (2500 to 300 kg) - 20 instruments

VILLARREAL - 2                : SPAIN        C    Y   72    0
GDANSK - K                    : POLAND       C    -   49    -
ECHTERNACH - 1                : LUXEMBOURG   C#   Y   50    1
SAINT MAURICE                 : SWITZERLAND  C#  +Y   48    1
ARANJUEZ                      : SPAIN        D    -   47    -
CONSTANCIA - mobile           : PORTUGAL     D#   X   63    5
PRAHA - mobile                : CZECH REP.   F    Y   57    5
BARCELONA - P                 : SPAIN        F    X   49    5
KLAIPEDA                      : LITHUANIA    F    Y   48    5
MEDJUGORJE                    : BOSNIA       F    X   47    -

CORDOBA                       : SPAIN        F    -   36    5
BILBAO                        : SPAIN        F    -   24    -
LENS                          : SWITZERLAND  F    X   24    0
KAUNAS                        : LITHUANIA    F#   X   49    6
CAROUGE                       : SWITZERLAND  F#   Y   36    6
HEILIGENKREUZ                 : AUSTRIA      E    Y   43    9
GENEVA - STP/2                : SWITZERLAND  A   +Y   37   16
SIAULIAI - SPP                : LITHUANIA    A    -   37    -
MONTHERON                     : SWITZERLAND  A#   Y   52   12
INNSBRUCK - D/1               : AUSTRIA      A#   X   47   10

bourdon in the treble octave (250 to 60 kg) - 2 instruments

ZOFINGEN                      : SWITZERLAND  C    Z   25   12
PRAHA - L                     : CZECH REP.   C#   X   27   13

bourdon in the "itty-bitty" octave (55 kg or less) - 0 instruments

 [none known]

bourdon unknown - 13 instruments

VILNIUS                       : LITHUANIA    -    -   61    -
KIEV - STN                    : UKRAINE      -    -   51    -
KIEV - STT/1                  : UKRAINE      -    -   51    -
KOLOMYIA                      : UKRAINE      -    -   51    -
SAINT PETERSBURG - P          : RUSSIA       -    -   51    -
HOSHIV                        : UKRAINE      -    Y   50    -
KIEV - B                      : UKRAINE      -    Y   50    -  hybrid
KIEV - STM                    : UKRAINE      -    Y   50    -
PORTO - CC                    : PORTUGAL     -    X   49    -
PULLY                         : SWITZERLAND  -    -   48    -

LEIRIA                        : PORTUGAL     -    -   47    -
GDANSK - R                    : POLAND       -    X   37    -
CZESTOCHOWA - JG              : POLAND       -    -   36    -

Key to column headings:

Note

pitch of the bourdon (bass bell) of the carillon. (In rare instances there may be a heavier sub-bourdon bell; see below.)

Chr

chromatics indicator:
Z = fully chromatic (no missing semitones)
Y = missing one semitone in the bass (typically keyboard C# or B)
X = missing two semitones in the bass (typically keyboard C#,D# or B,C#)
- = unknown

Nr

number of bells (notes) in the carillon.

Transp

transposition from the keyboard notes to the pitches of the corresponding bells, in semitones.  (Thus the number "12" reflects transposition upward one octave, while "-3" reflects transposition downward by a minor third.)

Notes:

The table is sorted first on the pitch of the bass bell, then on the number of bells, then on the chromatics indicator, then on city.  The actual weight of the bass bell is not used.

The weight range indicators for each octave are only gross approximations, and should not be taken to represent any specific bell.

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Return to Indexes to traditional carillons in Europe.

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This page was created on 16-Apr-06 and last revised on 5-Dec-24.

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