Bourdon (bell)

Musical instrument

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Emmanuel, the 13-ton bourdon of Notre-Dame de Paris being remounted in 1850 during restoration

The bourdon is the heaviest of the bells that belong to a musical instrument, especially a chime or a carillon, and produces its lowest tone.

As an example, the largest bell of a carillon of 64 bells, the sixth largest bell hanging in the world, in the Southern Illinois town of Centralia, is identified as the 'bourdon.' It weighs 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) and is tuned to G. In the Netherlands where carillons are native, the heaviest carillon is in Grote Kerk in Dordrecht (South Holland).

The biggest bell serving as bourdon of any carillon is the low C bell at Riverside Church, New York City. Cast in 1929 as part of the Rockefeller Carillon, it weighs 19,000 kg (41,000 lb) and measures 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in) across.

The bourdon at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, called Great Paul, weighs 16.7 tonnes. It is the largest bell ever cast in the British Isles.[1] Great Paul is the second heaviest bell in the United Kingdom after the 25.7-tonne Olympic Bell, cast in the Netherlands for the 2012 London Games. As it is not a part of a harmonically-tuned set, the Olympic Bell is not considered a bourdon.[2] Some cathedrals can have more than one bourdon bell. For example Notre-Dame de Paris has two bourdon bells, named Marie and Emmanuel which are hung in the south tower.

Although carillons are by definition chromatic, the next bell up from the bourdon is traditionally a whole tone higher in pitch, leaving a semitone out of the instrument. Bells separated from the next higher note by more than two semitones (one whole tone) are called sub-bourdons.[3]

## English-style ring of bells

[edit]

The heaviest bell in a diatonically tuned English-style ring of bells (change ringing) is called the tenor. If a larger, heavier bell is also present it would be called a bourdon.

## See also

[edit]

* Campanology
* Carillon
* Pieter and François Hemony

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Great Paul Leads Bell Ringing Tribute at Platinum Jubilee". Bells.org. Bells.org. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
2. ^ "A Look Back at the 2012 London Olympic Bell". Bells.org. Bells.org. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
3. ^ "What is a bourdon bell?". Bells.org. Bells.org. Retrieved 23 August 2022.

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Bells

Background and
terminology|

* Bell
* Bell-cot
* Bellfounding
* Bell-gable
* Bell pattern
* Bell tower / Campanile
* Bell-ringer
* Bell shrine
* Belfry
* Bourdon
* Campanology (index)
* Peal
* Ring of bells
* Strike tone
* Striking clock
* Zvonnitsa

Types|

* Agogô
* Altar bell
* Aluphone
* Babendil
* Bell tree
* Bianzhong
* Bicycle bell
* Bonshō
* Call bell
* Cat bell
* Church bell
* Cowbell
* Crotal bell
* Dead bell
* Doorbell
* Dōtaku
* Ghanta
* Handbell
* Jingle bell
* Kane
* Mini-ring
* Ship's bell
* Servant bell
* Standing bell
* Suzu
* Tintinnabulum
* Tubular bells

Ringing styles|

* Chiming
* Carillon
* Chime
* Canpanò
* Ellacombe apparatus
* Russian Orthodox bell ringing
* Blagovest
* Full circle ringing
* Change ringing
* Call changes
* Method ringing
* Bolognese bell ringing
* Veronese bell ringing

Notable bells|

* List of heaviest bells
* Balangiga bells
* Bell of Good Luck
* Bell of King Seongdeok
* Big Ben
* Freedom Bell
* Great Bell of Dhammazedi
* Great Tom
* Ivan the Great Bell Tower
* Japanese Peace Bell
* Justice Bell
* Liberty Bell
* Maria Gloriosa
* Mingun Bell
* Bells of Notre-Dame de Paris
* Olympic Bell
* Petersglocke
* Sigismund Bell
* Swan Bells
* Temple Bell (Boston)
* Tsar Bell
* World Peace Bells
* Kentucky
* Yongle Big Bell

Bell founders
and foundries|

* Bergholtz
* Bilbie family
* Andrey Chokhov
* Cockey
* Royal Eijsbouts
* Kashpir Ganusov
* Vanden Gheyn
* Gillett & Johnston
* Grassmayr
* Miles Graye
* Hatch
* Pieter and François Hemony
* Christopher Hodson
* Franciscus Illenfeld
* Juutila
* Marinelli
* McShane
* Meneely
* John Murphy
* Olsen Nauen
* Glockengießerei Otto
* Paccard
* Petit & Fritsen
* Richard Phelps
* Rudhall
* John and William Rufford
* Saarlouiser Glockengießerei
* Schilling [de]
* Taylor
* Hugh Watts
* Warner
* Whitechapel
* Geert van Wou

Related|

* Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers
* Glockenmuseum Stiftskirche Herrenberg
* Liberty Bell Memorial Museum
* Liberty Bell Museum
* National Bell Festival
* Ringing organizations
* Freedom Bell, American Legion
* All the Bells

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