You can hear it before you see it. A tower rising above Salisbury University's campus. Not just a symbol, but a sound. A sound with history, muscle, and surprising artistry. It's the carillon in the academic commons, one of the few of its kind in the country, and the people behind it are working to ensure that it's more than just background noise.
“Yeah. I'm Dr. William Folger. I'm the carillonner for SU's Brown and Church carillon. We don't play everything with our fingers like you do the piano or organ, you play with your fists. We call these batons. Those are the keys. When you play a baton, the vertical stroke is transferred by a thing that looks like a boomerang to a horizontal. It brings a clapper to hit the inside of the bells, and there's one key for every bell. There's 48 bells here, and so the lower notes, because the clappers are big (almost as big as a bowling ball) and very heavy, it takes more exertion,” Folger said.
Dr. William Folger's the university's longtime director of Choral Studies and now one of only a few certified carillonners in the country. The instrument he plays from high above campus is a marvel. Part percussion, part architecture, part tradition.
“What's unique about the instrument too, if I play a Major C major chord, it's going to sound out of tune. You have to separate it. It makes it a very artistic and musical instrument. It has a huge dynamic range of loudness and softness. So if you are down below on the key, the clapper's really close to it, so it's very soft. But if I move it, I even do it on a low note here, so just by the farther away the clapper, there's a good trajectory. So it causes to be a louder sound,” Folger continued.
It's an instrument that demands strength, but also a composer's ear and Salisbury's carillon has a story all on its own.
“The lowest two bells, the C and the D, they were founded by a company that was almost 500 years old, White Chapel in London, England, and we probably got one of the last two bells because the company is now closed, so it's extra special. They also founded the first Liberty Bell here in the United States, and they founded Big Ben in London. So we have a connection with international history,” he explained.
Its legacy and impact aren't just being preserved - it's growing. Thanks to new technology and some creative thinking, the carillon is reaching further than it ever has before.
“We're the only carillon in the university system of Maryland. [There are] not too many. In the state of Maryland, there's only three. But I think one of the reasons people are starting to get attracted is now we are adding thanks to Suzanna Mallow. She's wonderful. She's adding the video. She's adding something very unique, and most carillonners can't be seen when they're playing. But here, the last two carillonners that performed this summer, were able to introduce their songs, tell 'em a little about it, and this is the third season now we're doing. Every year we're going to have the summer series where I invite carillonners. They've come from the Netherlands, from Toronto, Canada, you name it. They come to play,” said Folger.
That broadcast ambition includes a new effort by Suzanna Mallow, production director for music, theater, and dance, to bring the carillon sound beyond campus and onto the local radio.
“I feel like the carillon has taken a step up in the collective consciousness of this community with what we're doing with sending the audio feed from the carillonner, being able to speak to people in Red Square. We're showing them the video of what's going on up here. We're sending it on the stream, and we're sending it to PAC 14 Community television too. So they're broadcasting live,” Mallow said.
And as that audience grows, so do the possibilities.
“[We] now connect with Holloway Hall to Jackson Family Auditorium and do collaborative concerts with the chorale, or with the symphony, or with Pops, even percussion ensemble. Because it's instantaneous, there's no delay,” said Mallow.
From a silent tower to a sound that will carry across Delmarva. Salisbury's carillon isn't just ringing out the hours. It's at the forefront of ringing in a new era. I'm Preston Baker for Delmarva Public Media.