The sites are listed in order by year of installation.
Following the year is an indication of the founder's contribution to the instrument:
trad - carillon with traditional keyboard
non-trad - carillon with non-traditional mechanism
non-trad* - carillon with non-traditional mechanism now,
but either chime size or with traditional keyboard at the date cited
mech? - carillon with unknown mechanism
chime - chime (any mechanism)
HERTOGENBOSCH - S : NETHERLANDS 1645 F trad Stadhuistoren ANTWERPEN : BELGIUM 1655 I trad City carillon (stadsbeiaard) O.L.V. Kathedraal HOOGSTRATEN : BELGIUM 1655*F trad Ste.Katarina Dekanale Kerk (St.-Catharinakerk) * made for a different place STOCKHOLM - STG : SWEDEN 1655 F trad Sct.Gertruds kyrka
ANTWERPEN : BELGIUM 1658 I trad City carillon (stadsbeiaard) O.L.V. Kathedraal ROTTERDAM - B : NETHERLANDS 1660 C [trad] Beurs (= Bourse, or Exchange) BRUSSELS - STN : BELGIUM 1662 C [trad] St.Nicholas Church STOCKHOLM - DC : SWEDEN 1663 F non-trad* Dutch Church * original presumed to have been traditional
GENT - B : BELGIUM 1659 I trad Belfort Ghent : BELGIUM 1660 - great Belfort GENT - B : BELGIUM 1660 I trad Belfort
[3 instruments remain to be posted]
MECHELEN - STR/1 : BELGIUM 1674 I trad (Historic carillon) Lower belfry Sint-Romboutstoren (St.Rombold's Tower)
The brothers Francois and Pieter Hemony are the most important carillon makers which the Netherlands and Belgium have known. François was born at Levécourt in Lorraine around 1609, his brother Pieter was also born there in 1619. The older generation of the Hemony family belonged to that large group of Lorraine bellfounders that traveled throughout Europe to cast bells. The father of François and Pieter and his brother, Blaise and Peter (or in reverse order), we find particularly in Germany. There François cast in 1636 his first bell together with Josephus Michelin who later became his brother-in-law. François was married to Maria Michelin. Pieter Hemony has never been married.
In 1641 the brothers cast their first bells in the Netherlands for Goor. Their actual career began in 1642 when they received from the city of Zutphen the contract for the manufacturing of a carillon. In the same year, they also settled in this city. The Hemony were not familiar with the casting of carillons. But thanks to the support from the [blind] city carillonneur of Utrecht, jonkheer Jacob van Eyck, who studied intensively together with them, their first carillon was a great success. While they worked in Zutphen, there followed thirteen more carillons.
In 1655, François Hemony was offered favorable conditions by the city of Amsterdam, to settle there as bell- and cannon-founder. In 1657 he moved to that city, while Pieter attracted to the Southern Netherlands and in particular to the city of Ghent. In Amsterdam, François cast twenty carillons, including some which were exported to other countries. About that time we also hear about the first pupils, as Claude (1646-1699) and Mammes (ca.1651 - 1684) Fremy, sons of a nephew of the Hemonys. But they proved incapable of continuing the glory of Hemonys. Much more successful was Claes Noorden. The son of Francois Hemony, also named François, never worked with casting bells. During the Amsterdam period were also cast images, including those of the sculptor Artus Quellinus. Moreover there was artillery cast.
In 1664, Pieter rejoined his brother, possibly because of the illness of François and the many orders. Together they have cast three carillons. François died in 1667, after a life of wealth and fame. François was also highly regarded. His brother Pieter was his successor. During his stay in Ghent, Pieter is especially famous for the great carillon which he cast in 1659-1660 for the Belfry of Ghent. He also cast three smaller instruments that no longer exist. After rejoining his brother in 1664, Pieter would cast ten carillons before his death in 1680, thus making a total production of 51 carillons by the Hemonys. A number have been destroyed by fire or disappeared in war. The others were seriously affected in the nineteenth century and up to the sixties of the twentieth century by the emission of sulfur dioxide from coal furnaces. Among other things they became out of tune, which sometimes led to major restorations.
The significance of the bellfounders François and Pieter Hemony for the art of casting bells, especially for the art of carillons, is not to be underestimated. They knew how to liberate the chime from the primitive state of the sixteenth century and to transform it gloriously into a full-fledged musical instrument which lasts to this day.
Source:
André Lehr, De klokkengieters François en Pieter Hemony (Asten, 1959).
Source: A.Lehr, Register of [Dutch-related] bellfounders (translated from the Dutch by Google Translate, Cassell and Zimmerman)
Return to Indexes to bellfoundries.
This index page was built from the database on 14-Jun-06 and last updated on 3-Apr-08.
[GCNA Home Page] [Site data top page] [Credits and Disclaimers] [Feedback]
Please send comments or questions to csz_stl@swbell.net