Traditional carillons in Germany:
index by keyboard range

The tables below form an index to the 49 traditional carillons in Germany, in order by keyboard range, size and weight.  This puts each instrument near those that are most like it in terms of the limitations that their manual, pedal and total ranges impose on what music can be played on them.  It is noteworthy that the 29 instruments with known configurations are of 15 different sizes with at least 21 different keyboard configurations.  However, there are 20 carillons for which the keyboard ranges are insufficiently known to place them properly in this index, and several for which the manual and/or pedal ranges are not known well enough to determine their exact configurations.  Investigations to resolve these situations are ongoing.

The instruments are divided into four major groups by total range, as follows:
  Group 1 - grand carillon = at least 4.5 octaves, keyboard G - C
  Group 2 - concert carillon = at least 4 octaves, keyboard C - C
  Group 3 - medium carillon = at least 3 octaves, keyboard C - C
  Group 4 - small carillon = less than 3 octaves
Each group is subdivided according to the configuration of the bass end of the playing range that defines the group (which often is less than the total range of the instrument).

Within sub-groups, keyboard ranges are sorted as follows:
  -> in ascending order by the visible starting note of the manual,
  <- in descending order by number of notes on the manual
        (which often is the same as the total number of bells),
  <- in descending order by the number of notes in the pedal,
  <- in descending order by the weight of the bass bell
        (which is equivalent to ascending order by transposition).
Sub-bourdons (shown in parentheses, and usually only connected to the pedalboard) are ignored.

Any piece of music that fits within the defining range of a subgroup can probably be played on all of the instruments in that subgroup.  Exceptions might occur if that piece requires unusually high pedal notes that are not available on some instruments.

Any piece of music that can be played on all the instruments of one subgroup can also be played on all the instruments of all the subgroups above that one in the table.  The sole significant exception is that music which can be played on all instruments of subgroup 2b+ and which require the bass B-flat cannot be played on instruments of subgroup 2a.  Exceptions might also occur if that piece requires unusually high pedal notes that are not available on some instruments.

The key to the five column headings is at the end of the table.

    Location (City : Country)              Note  Chr  Nr  Transp  RngMan/RngPed
Group 1a - fully chromatic within grand carillon range:
1 instrument
BERLIN - K                    : GERMANY-BRD  F    Z   68   -     G D   /    G C 30

Group 1b - missing bass G# within grand carillon range:

2 instruments in 2 different keyboard configurations
HALLE                         : GERMANY-DDR  F    Y   76  -5     F D 70/    A#G 27
BERLIN - F                    : GERMANY-DDR  G#   Y   60   1     G G   /    G C 29

Group 1c - missing bass G#,A# within grand carillon range:

0 instruments
[none currently known]

Group 2a+ - fully chromatic within concert carillon range, plus bass B-flat:

4 instruments in 3 different keyboard configurations
BERLIN - RP                   : GERMANY      D    Y   52   4     C D 51/    A#G
KIEL                          : GERMANY      G    Y   50   9     C C 49/    A#G 
HERRENBERG - 1                : GERMANY      A#   Y   50  10     C C 49/    A#G
MUENCHEN - MH                 : GERMANY      A#  +Y   65   0     --D   /(F#)A#--

Group 2a - fully chromatic within concert carillon range:

1 instrument
HAMBURG - STN                 : GERMANY      C    Z   51   0     C D   /    C F#

Group 2b+ - missing bass C# from concert carillon range, but has bass B-flat:

6 instruments in at least 4 different keyboard configurations
ILLERTISSEN                   : GERMANY      A#   X   51  12     C D 50/    A#G 
AACHEN - R                    : GERMANY-BRD  A#   X   49   -     C C 48/    A#G
HANNOVER - H                  : GERMANY-BRD  A#   X   49  12     C C 48/    A#G
PASSAU - P/1/mobile           : GERMANY      C    X   49   -     G C 42/    A#G
WUERZBURG - N                 : GERMANY      G    X   51   9     --D   /    A#--
HAHNENKLEE                    : GERMANY      C    X   49  14     --C   /    A#--

Group 2b - missing bass C# from concert carillon range:

5 instruments in 3 different keyboard configurations
ERFURT                        : GERMANY-DDR  C    Y   60   0     C C   /    C C 24
CHEMNITZ - NR                 : GERMANY-DDR  F    Y   48   5     C C   /    C C 24
ASCHAFFENBURG                 : GERMANY-BRD  C    Y   48  12     C C   /    C G
KOELN - AR                    : GERMANY-BRD  C    Y   48   0     C C   /    C G
MUENCHEN - O                  : GERMANY-BRD  A#   Y   50  10     G D 44/    C G

Group 2c+ - missing bass C#,D# from concert carillon range, plus bass B-flat:

0 instruments
[none currently known]

Group 2c - missing bass C#,D# from concert carillon range:

7 instruments in 4 different keyboard configurations
MAGDEBURG - R                 : GERMANY-DDR  E    X   47   5     C C   /    C C
WIESBADEN                     : GERMANY-BRD  C    X   49   0     C D   /    C G
EPPINGEN                      : GERMANY-BRD  F    X   49   5     C D   /    C G
GEISA                         : GERMANY      A#   X   49  10     C D   /    C G
FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN - N         : GERMANY-BRD  F    X   47   5     C C   /    C G
KASSEL - K                    : GERMANY-BRD  A#   X   47  10     C C   /    C G 
BONN-BEUEL                    : GERMANY-BRD  D#  +X   62   5     G D 52/(A )C G

Group 3a - medium carillons with fully chromatic bass:

2 instruments in one keyboard configuration
GERA                          : GERMANY-DDR  C    Z   37  24     C C   /    C E
LUEBECK - 1                   : GERMANY-BRD  C    X   37   0     C C   /    C E

Group 3b - medium carillons missing one bass semitone:

0 instruments
[none currently known]
Group 3c - medium carillons missing two bass semitones:
5 instruments in at least 4 different keyboard configurations
EMMERICH                      : GERMANY      F    X   43   5     C G#  /    C -
HAMBURG-ALTONA - C            : GERMANY      E    X   42   4     C G   /    C G
WEILBACH                      : GERMANY      C    X   37  12     C E   /    C G
DUEREN                        : GERMANY-BRD  G    X   37   7     C D   /    C G
ROSTOCK - mobile              : GERMANY-DDR  C    X   37   -     --D   /    C --

Group 4a - small carillons with fully chromatic bass:

2 instruments in 2 keyboard configurations
SAALFELD                      : GERMANY-DDR  D#   Z   25   3     C C   /    C G
LOESSNITZ                     : GERMANY      A#   X   23  10     C C   /    C G  6

Group 4b - small carillons missing one bass semitone:

2 instruments in 2 different keyboard configurations
POTSDAM - E                   : GERMANY-DDR  C    Y   24  36     C C   /    C C
HEIDELBERG                    : GERMANY-BRD  C    Y   26  24     C D   /    C C 12

Group 4c - small carillons missing two bass semitones:

2 instruments in 2 different keyboard configurations
BONN/BG                       : GERMANY-BRD  C    X   23  24     C C   /    NONE
BUCHEN/ODENWALD               : GERMANY      G   +X   24  24 (E) C C   /    ----  hybrid

not indexed (configuration unknown) - 10
ALTENBURG                     : GERMANY-DDR  G    Y   24   -     ----  /    ----
BERLIN - N                    : GERMANY-DDR  G#   Z   41   -     ----  /    ----
KOELN - STM                   : GERMANY      -    -   38   -     ----  /    ----
KAISERSLAUTERN                : GERMANY      C    X   47   -     ----  /    ----
MUEHLHAUSEN                   : GERMANY-DDR  G    -   41   -     ----  /    ----
MELLE                         : GERMANY-BRD  C    X   37   -     ----  /    ----
ROCKENHAUSEN                  : GERMANY      C    -   37   -     ----  /    ----  hybrid
ROSTOCK - U                   : GERMANY-DDR  C#   Y   32   -     ----  /    ----
SCHWERIN - S                  : GERMANY-DDR  C    -   26   -     ----  /    ----
SCHIRGISWALDE                 : GERMANY      G    -   29   -     ----  /    ----
WECHSELBURG                   : GERMANY-DDR  C    X   36   -     ----  /    ----

Key to column headings:

Note
pitch of the bourdon (bass bell) of the carillon.  (In some instances there may be one or more heavier sub-bourdon bells; see below.)  In this index, no distinction is made between the different octaves within which a given pitch can occur, unless transposition information is available.
- = unknown

Chr
chromatics indicator:
Z = fully chromatic (no missing semitones)
Y = missing one semitone in the bass (typically keyboard C# or B or G#)
X = missing two semitones in the bass (typically keyboard C#,D# or B,C#)
+X = same as "X" but has an additional sub-bourdon bell, normally separated by at least two semitones from the one indicated under "Note".
- = 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 "-4" reflects transposition downward by a major third, and "0" represents concert pitch.)
- = unknown

RngMan/RngPed
Ranges of the manual and pedal keyboards; for a complete explanation see the page about keyboard ranges.
---- = unknown
--   = partially unknown


Return to Indexes to traditional carillons in Germany.

Return to keyboard indexes for traditional carillons worldwide.


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This page was created on 2020/07/23 and last revised on 2024/03/06.

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