Originally posted as an email from Rene Golden:
Ringing of the
Rushton Memorial Carillon
on the campus of
Samford University
Monday, August
20, 2012 at 8:30 am
Steve Knight,
carillonneur
~~~~~~~~
The Star-Spangled Banner
O Samford Alma Mater True
Preludio VI in G Minor, Matthias van den Gheyn
Holy, Holy, Holy
Immortal, Invisible, God Only
Wise
Rejoice, the Lord Is King
Rejoice Ye Pure In Heart
~~~~~~~~
Stephen
Brooks Knight is a pianist, organist, carillonneur and composer
from Birmingham, Alabama and is Samford University’s Resident Carillonneur.
Knight has received numerous awards and honors, including winner of the City of
Mechelen Carillon Composition prize from the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen,
Belgium, and two year recipient of the Young Blind Composers Award from the
National Federation of Music Clubs. He
also received the Samuel P. Hayes Award from the Perkins School for the Blind
and the Harry R. Wilson Award from Samford University.
Knight
holds two undergraduate degrees from University of Alabama and graduate degrees
from Samford University, Schola Cantorum in Paris, France, and University of
Michigan. He received the Final Diploma “With Great Distinction” from the Royal
Carillon School in Belgium.
Knight
participated in the First World Congress of Guild of Carillonneurs in
Ammersfoort, Holland in August, 1978. He has been a member of the Guild of
Carillonneurs in North America since 1970 and is also a member the American
Guild of Organists, American Federation of Music Clubs, and Phi Mu Alpha
Sinfonia.
The
Rushton Memorial Carillon was first installed on campus in Reid
Chapel in 1968. The carillon was donated by William J. Rushton in honor of his
parents, two sisters, and brother. When the carillon was first erected, 49
bells were included. It was the first four-octave chromatic carillon in the
United States. Each bell was cast with a meaningful inscription, making the
bell system not only unique to the United States but to the world. No other
bell system at that time included inscriptions on each bell.
In
1979, the bells were moved to the Harwell Goodwin Davis Library. Eleven more
bells were added at that time. The largest bell, C3, weighs 5,192 pounds and
has a diameter of 61-9/16". The lightest bell, C8, weighs 26 pounds and
has a diameter of
7-1/8".
The total weight for the bells is 29,244 pounds.
