Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/B/Bells, musical
Bells, musical. Music bells, or carillons, are preserved in several parts of Britain, and in many towns of the continent. They are played by means of keys resembling those of a piano-forte, and when well tuned, and heard at a distance, the music is not disagreeable. It is not evident when they were first introduced, but they may be of considerable antiquity, the number augmenting according as alterations were made in music. Prefixed to a manuscript copy of the Psalms, as old as the fourteenth century, is a painting of King David, playing, with a hammer in each hand, on five bells hung up before him. In the great tower of the cathedral at Antwerp were suspended thirty-three music bells, the largest seven feet wide and eight feet high, the melody of which is highly celebrated. The late Mr. Joseph Strutt observes, that he saw a man in London ring twelve bells at a time ; two were placed on his head, he had two in each hand, one was affixed to each knee, and two upon each foot ; all of' which he managed with great adroitness, and performed a vast variety of tunes.