INDEPENDENCE : USA - MO

*Location:

   First Presbyterian Church
   West Lexington Avenue
   at North Pleasant Street
   Independence, Missouri, USA
   LL: N 39.09235, W 94.42151

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*Player:

   (organist)

*Contact:

   First Presbyterian Church
   100 North Pleasant Street
   Independence, MO  64050-2654
   T: (816)252-6662   F: (816)252-3300
   E: duaneind@swbell.net

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   First 6 bells (keyboard C,D,E,F,G,A)
   by Meneely/Wvlt, 1937; keyboard Bb,C
   by P&F, 1978.  Space in original frame
   to add two more trebles.  Original
   solenoid/chain/clapper mechanism was
   replaced with outside hammers during
   expansion.  Unique quarter-hour tunes.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard chime of  8 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is A  in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  9 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    NONE  
   The arrangement of tones and/or semitones
     is non-standard; see Remarks above.
   The instrument was enlarged in 1978
     by the maker cited in Remarks above
   Prior history:
     In 1937, the instrument was begun with  6 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
   Year of latest technical information source is 2004

*Links:

The church is pictured along with its connection to former President Harry Truman.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) bellfoundry.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
NOTE: In the database which supports this Website, these two phases are combined into one, because it does not include instruments smaller than 8 bells, and this was originally that very rare thing, a chime of six bells. After enlargement, it is an even more rare thing, because the octave contains a flat seventh in place of the normal seventh.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American chimes by weight (pitch).
Ranking among all North American chimes by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in MO.

*Status:

   This page was built from the database on 18-Jul-09
   based on textual data last updated on 2009/07/10
   and on technical data last updated on 2004/03/23

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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