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Nijmegen - Music

Arie Peters' study carillon









1936  -  ST. STEPHANUS TOWER  -  CONSOLE OF THE CARILLON


Nijmegen speeltafel



The legacy of one of Nijmegen's former carillonneurs, Willem de Vries, includes a photo of the keyboard of the carillon of the St. Stephanus tower, taken in the period before 1936. It was on this console that Arie Peters, after his appointment as city carillonneur of Nijmegen in 1936, made the bells sing over the city. Involuntarily one wonders, upon hearing the carillon sing, where the carillonneur exercised before he scattered the sounds over the city. How Arie Peters himself as an apprentice carillonneur had mastered the instrument before his appointment in Nijmegen is not possible to ascertain today. According to his own statement, he received instruction from Jan Wagenaar, carillonneur of the Dom Tower in Utrecht. Presumably this was J.A.H. Wagenaar II (1894-1937), who was carillonneur of the Dom until 1937. Fact is that Arie Peters attended the Carillon School "Jef Denyn" at Mechelen in 1939, in order to perfect his interpretation technique. Fact is that his father in law made a study console for him to practice at home. Which carillon console stood model for his home model is unknown. If the study console was constructed prior to his appointment in Nijmegen, the console of the carillon of the Dom tower in Utrecht would probably have served as a model; if, on the other hand, it was built after his appointment to Nijmegen, the console of the St. Stephanus carillon must have been the example.
  • Image left: Photograph of the console of the carillon of the St. Stephanus tower at Nijmegen before 1936, from the legacy of Willem de Vries.







  • 1938  -  ARIE PETERS PLAYING THE CARILLON OF THE ST. STEPHANUS TOWER

    NijmegenSpeeltafel
    The 1938 weekly magazine Panorama devoted two pages to the carillon of the St. Stephanus tower in Nijmegen. Enthusiastically, the journey up to the bells, the playing drum, the keyboard console and the playing bells are described. En passant, the finishing of the old walls and is mentioned, as well as the heavy beams that support the tower. All this is illustrated with beautiful photos of the interior of the tower, of the view, but also of the characteristic buildings around the Grote Markt.
    In this issue of Panorama, Stichting De Traditie found a second image of the carillon console. It can be concluded with great probability that the dummy keyboard that Carel Alexander Walhof made for his son-in-law and carillonneur Arie Peters is a fairly exact copy of the console of the carillon of the St. Stephanus tower. It is also striking that the bench on which the carillonneur is performing is additionally anchored to the walls via a sturdy beam. The Panorama weekly also briefly mentions the earlier shelling and fires of the tower, and other damage and alterations: 1326, 1429, and 1569. The current exterior seems to date from 1675. The bombing of the tower and church by the Allies in 1944 added a new element to the building history.
  • Image left: Photograph of Arie Peters playing the carillon of the St. Stephanus tower in Nijmegen (source: Panorama July 14, 1938).







  • 1936  -  THE DUMMY CARILLON AT HOME

    Nijmegen
              studieklavier
    Because there was no carillon school in the Netherlands before 1953, upcoming carillonneurs were dependent on the world famous Carillon School "Jef Denyn" at Mechelen, or on the availability of a study keyboard at home. Although Arie Peters - former city carillonneur Nijmegen, Haarlem, and Cuijck - did not descend from a carillonneur family, he still possessed a study console of his own, on which he could prepare his performances. The study console was made by his father in law, Carel Alexander Walhof, an excellent carpenter.  The instrument did not produce melodious sounds, but offered the opportunity to practice harmonization between motor skills and musicality, before the carillon sounds were released over the city. We are talking about the period 1936 - 1971. From 1971 to 2009, the instrument was in storage. After Arie's retirement, the study keyboard was temporarily transferred to the collection of Stichting De Tradition, where it waited for a new destination. For a while it seemed that the instrument would have a place in the entrance hall of the St. Stephanus Tower at Nijmegen. However, although the Gilde Nymegen was very excited, the owner of the St. Stephanus Tower - the city of Nijmegen - thought differently. Through mediation of the then secretary of the Dutch Carillon Society, Janno den Engelsman, the promising Japanese carillonneur Toru Takao screen came into view. On October 3, 2010 the study carillon was transferred to Toru Takao, where it found a new home.  See also the image of the console of the carillon in the St. Stephanus Tower after the restoration in 1952, and the article by Peters-RC 2011. Toru Takao and Arie Peters' stokkenklavier (1936). SDT Ref. Ser. Neth. 1, 1-2 (in Dutch).
  • Image left: Photograph of the study carillon at the office of Arie Peters, Nijmegen, around 1950 (Carel Alexander Walhof fecit )..








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