Westcott's glasses lay on his handwritten copy of the MSU fight song. Westcott said most carillonneurs rewrite music and compose it to their personal style.
The stairs, 72 in all, wind past small windows
and yellowed walls with cobwebs collecting in the corners.The steps, each about a foot wide, go straight up to the fourth floor, where a door swings down from the ceiling like the entryway to an old attic.
Suddenly there are 49 dark iron bells, ranging from 15 pounds to two-and-a-half tons, staring down at the floor.
This is where Wendell Westcott roams. He sits tucked away in Beaumont Tower as people trek across the lawn below. Westcott's small feet dangle and dance on the pedals of the carillon as his fists methodically bounce the long wooden keys that control the bells above him.
A carillon is a musical instrument consisting of at least two octaves of carillon bells. It is played from a keyboard that lets musicians change the expression of the sound with varying touch.
“You use two fists, two feet and you make a lot of noise,” Westcott, 88 said. “I would never enjoy playing the violin or the flute or the drums as much.”
The tower was a gift from John W. Beaumont, an 1882 alumnus of Michigan Agricultural College. A letter, dated October 19, 1928 and acknowledging Beaumont's gift, hangs in the tower. Among the many official signatures is that of Melville B. McPherson, MSU President M. Peter McPherson's grandfather.
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Westcott's glasses lay on his handwritten copy of the MSU fight song. Westcott said most carillonneurs rewrite music and compose it to their personal style. |
Westcott graduated from MSU with a bachelor's degree in piano in 1935 and a master's degree in piano in 1939. In 1941, officials from the School of Music asked him to play the carillon. He agreed but joined the army after a year. He returned to the carillon in fall 1947.
Westcott retired from teaching the carillon at MSU in 1985, but he still plays an active role in the activities at Beaumont Tower. He even lent a hand in moving new bells up the tower.
“My wife helped me (move) one. It was just the two of us. I was up above pulling it, and the hook split. It almost landed right on her head,” he said with a laugh.
The bell weighed 50 pounds.
Julia Walton, who plays MSU's carillon, said it is great to work with Westcott.
“Wendell has become a really good friend,” said Walton, who studied at the University of Michigan with Percival Price, the founder of the National Convention of The Handbell Guild in America. “He's so pleased the carillon is back, because it was unplayable for at least 10 years since he retired. We enjoy having him, we can really learn from him.”
While MSU renovated the carillon and tower in 1996, current MSU carillonneur Ray McLellan said the tower has withstood the test of time as a campus landmark.
“The tower is such a symbol for this school,” said McLellan, who is teaching 10 students to play the carillon. “People have a reverence for it. This is such a great setting. Not many places have this setting, with the trees and the nice open space.
“There are only about 160 carillons in North America. That's part of the reason I like it, it's sort of rare,” he said.
McLellan has taught the carillon at MSU since August 1997. He said there is a big difference between teaching students to play the carillon and similarly designed instruments such as the piano or organ.
“The main thing they have to learn is they're not just using their fingers, they're using their hands and feet,” he said. “It's difficult for someone who's only played the piano to have to learn to coordinate it.”
When students begin learning the carillon, McLellan said they start on a practice keyboard on the first floor of the tower. Making the transition to the real carillon is another obstacle.
“It's almost scary to play the bells,” he said. “There's nothing like playing the carillon after playing the (practice) keyboard.”
Walton said a major distinction between the carillon and the piano or organ is that the performer is completely separate from the audience.
“You have to remind students that you're not just playing for yourself,” he said. “You can't go up just to practice, you're going up to play. That's the fun of it, but it's also dangerous.”
Westcott said that as much as carillonneurs may believe that no one is listening, bystanders don't let him forget that they're down there.
“Very often on Sunday, I come in and there's no one here, so I think I'm alone,” he said. “But when I'm done playing and I leave, sometimes there's 12 to 15 people waiting for me.”