*Location:

   Military Museum of Vitautas the Great
   K.Donelaicio g. east of Maironio g.
   Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania
   LL: N 54.89962, E 23.91132

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Giedrius Kuprevicius
   Rokiskio 12-1
   Kaunas 233005
   T: Kaunas 22 55 19
   E: giedrius.kuprevicius@ktu.lt
      Giedrius.Kuprevicius@gmail.com
   - and -
   Raimundos Eimontas
   - and -
   Julius Vilnonis
   T: 7/220484
   E: vilnonis@hotmail.com

   Victoras Kuprevicius (1900-1992)

*Contact:

   Vytauto Didziojo karo juziejus
   K.Donelaicio g. 64
   Kaunas 44248
   T: (8 37)32 07 65
   E: vdkaromuziejus/@/kam[.]lt

*Schedule:

   Automatic play at noon daily.

*Remarks:

   Cast 1935; installed 1937, replacing
   the earlier chime.  Expansion added two
   basses and 12 trebles.
   Also in tower: Lithuanian Liberty Bell,
   cast in 1919 by The Henry Stuckstede
   Bell Foundry Company, St.Louis, MO, and
   rung by rope & lever; and a 3-ton
   Russian bell, 184 cm diameter, 1901,
   formerly in Garrison Church of Kaunas.
   One of these serves as the hour strike.
   Former keyboard remains in tower.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 49 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F# in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C D   /    C --  
   Transposition is up  6 semitone(s), i.e., from C to F#
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 2005
     with bells made by Eijsbouts    
   Prior history:
     In 1935, the instrument was begun with 36 bells
       by Michiels    
       Pitch of heaviest bell was G# in the middle octave
       Keyboard range was:     F F   /    F G   
       Transposition was up 15 semitone(s), i.e., from C to D#
       There was one missing bass semitone
     In 1922, a complete instrument of  8 bells was installed
       by an unknown maker
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was unknown
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2022

The Website of Giedrius Kuprevicius, Lithuanian composer and carillonneur, is in Lithuanian and English.  It has his resume, and a page on the Kaunas carillon, with a photo of the tower and the history of the bells.

Stock photo (B/W) shows Kaunas composer Viktoras Kuprevicius in the clock tower of the Lithuanian Historical Museum at his original musical instrument on which he plays classical pieces; shows a large ornately decorated bell, several small bells with interior clappers and external hammers, and roller bar transmission.

The museum Website is in both Lithuanian and English.

The English Wikipedia article about the museum gives the history of the carillon.  The corresponding Lithuanian article is much longer, and includes two photos of the tower, but does not mention the renovation and expansion of 2005-6.

A YouTube video (9:08) of the Kaunas International Carillon Music Festival 2022 opens with the hour strike at noon on the G bell; video shows tower and audience.  related videos show the tower, surroundings, and a large screen with video relay from the keyboard room (plus lots of extraneous stuff).

A YouTube video (4:47) of the carillon from 2015 shows the manual keyboard and the bells, played by Raimundas Eimontas.

A YouTube video (4:17) is composed of a series of still photos in the tower, showing the keyboard, bells (carillon and two others), clock and drum, old keyboard, access stairs; the sound track (in Lithuanian) is irrelevant.

Wide-angle photo of tower and museum

Pinterest photo of the tower

The American Lithuanian Liberty Bell - history and photos

The Wikimedia Commons category for the carillon has five photos of the tower.

Historic video of the tower and carillon; can be viewed as stills

The initial phase of this work being possibly unknowable, there is no index link for it.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Michiels bellfoundry, in this region and in the world. Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Eijsbouts bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all European traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all European traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all European traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all traditional carillons in Lithuania.

Index to all tower bell instruments in Lithuania.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2022/10/26
   and on technical data last updated on 2022/10/26