A tour through Holland : $b along the right and left banks of the Rhine, to the south of Germany, in the summer and autumn of 1806Carr, John, Sir
History
A tour through Holland : $b along the right and left banks of the Rhine, to the south of Germany, in the summer and autumn of 1806
Carr, John, Sir
Netherlands -- Description and travel; Rhine River Valley -- Description and travel
The view from the steeple of this church is esteemed the most beautiful
in Holland, and is remarkable fine and extensive; but the beauty of the
scenery is principally _at a distance_, as the land immediately
surrounding the town is boggy, dotted with piles of white turf. The
chimes of this church, or as they are called, the Carillons, are very
numerous, consisting of four or five hundred bells, which are celebrated
for the sweetness of their tones. This species of music is entirely of
Dutch origin, and in Holland and the countries that formerly belonged to
her, it can only be heard in great perfection. The French and Italians
have never imitated the Dutch in this taste; we have made the attempt in
some of our churches, but in such a miserably bungling manner, that the
nerves of even a Dutch skipper would scarcely be able to endure it.
These carillons are played upon by means of a kind of keys communicating
with the bells, as those of the piano forte and organ do with strings
and pipes, by a person called the Carilloneur, who is regularly
instructed in the science, the labor of the practical part of which is
very severe, he being almost always obliged to perform in his shirt with
his collar unbuttoned, and generally forced by exertion into a profuse
perspiration, some of the keys requiring a two pound weight to depress
them: after the performance, the Carilloneur is frequently obliged
immediately to go to bed: by pedals communicating with the great bells,
he is enabled with his feet to play the base to several sprightly and
even difficult airs, which he performs with both his hands upon the
upper species of keys, which are projecting sticks, wide enough asunder
to be struck with violence and celerity by either of the two hands
edgeways, without the danger of hitting the adjoining keys. The player
uses a thick leather covering for the little finger of each hand, to
prevent the excessive pain which the violence of the stroke, necessary
to produce sufficient sound, requires: these musicians are very
dextrous, and will play pieces in three parts, producing the first and
second treble with the two hands on the upper set of keys, and the base
as before described. By this invention a whole town is entertained in
every quarter of it; that spirit of industry which pervades the kingdom,
no doubt originally suggested this sudorific mode of amusing a large
population, without making it necessary for them to quit their
avocations one moment to enjoy them. They have often sounded to my ear,
at a distance, like the sounds of a very sweet hand-organ; but the want
of something to stop the vibration of each bell, to prevent the notes of
one passage from running into another, is a desideratum which would
render this sort of music still more highly delightful. Holland is the
only country I have been in, where the sound of bells was gratifying.
The dismal tone of our own on solemn occasions, and the horrible
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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