The Thomas Dry Howie Carillon

*Location:

   The Thomas Dry Howie Tower
   The Citadel  (Military College)
   Moultrie Street
   Charleston, South Carolina, USA
   LL: N 32.79815, W 79.95887

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   Michael Varnadore, Chapel Organist
   T: 843-813-3007
   E: mvarnado@citadel.edu

*Contact:

   Summerall Chapel
   The Citadel, MSC 002
   171 Moultrie Street
   Charleston, SC  29409-0002
   T: 843-953-5049

*Schedule:

   Cambridge (Westminster) quarters.

*Remarks:

   Original bells dated 1954, inst.1955;
   original keyboard also reported as
   Dutch standard, like old practice
   keyboard (now unusable).  New keyboards
   supplied in 2003, installed with
   new bells and action in early 2004.
   Elevator to practice keyboard (2nd
   level) and playing cabin.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 59 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C# in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C C 25
   Transposition is up  1 semitone(s), i.e., from C to C#
   There are two missing bass semitones
   There is a non-identical practice console
   25 bells were recast or replaced in 2004
     by Paccard      
   Prior history:
     In 1955, the complete instrument of 59 bells was installed
       by vanBergen   
       (34 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C C   /    C F   
   Auxiliary mechanisms: Q4HE19
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                 12 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   17 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  20 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  80%
   Year of latest technical information source is 2004

The Thomas Dry Howie Memorial Carillon and Tower have their own Web page in the campus tour. The tower also appears in a photograph of Summerall Chapel and in an aerial view of the campus center.

Waymarking page

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the vanBergen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by weight.
Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American concert class carillons by year of completion.

Other concert carillons with similar keyboard ranges.

Index to all traditional carillons in SC.

Index to all tower bell instruments in SC.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2021/09/30
   and on technical data last updated on 2021/09/30