CARILLION CONCERTS

Since 2020, the concerts of the Kaunas carillon, held in the garden of the Vytautas the Great War Museum, have been curated by the Kaunas Artists' House. The concert series begins in May and ends in September.

Professional carillonists perform for the city's residents and guests every Sunday at 4 PM.

Kaunas Carillon

The Kaunas Carillon, also known as the Kaunas "War Bells" Carillon, is located in the tower of the Vytautas the Great War Museum garden. It comprises 49 bells (the largest weighs about 750 kg; it was donated by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, and Mrs. Alma Adamkienė), a Standard 2000 model keyboard; the bells' range is from F-sharp, G-sharp, A-sharp to G-sharp4. The carillon is played in the warm months, on Sundays and national holidays (concerts are coordinated by the Kaunas Artists' House). Pieces specifically created and arranged for this instrument are played: from folk melodies of various nations to classical, contemporary, and jazz pieces; it is played solo and with various ensembles, a symphony orchestra, choirs, soloists. Since 1992, jazz and original compositions have been played on the carillon at the Kaunas Jazz festival.

History

While constructing the War Museum's palace and the garden tower, a modern carillon was ordered from the Mechelen (Belgium) bell foundry in 1933. In 1935, a set of 35 bells (the largest weighed 574 kg, the smallest – 7.4 kg), made by the master Marcel Michiels, was shipped to Klaipėda. The set included (in addition to the bells) a manual and pedal keyboard, an automatic ringing crank. On February 15, 1937, the bells were named the "War Bells" by a special act. At that time, the carillon was irregularly played by V. Kupevičius, J. Lechavičius, J. Tallat-Kelpša, Jonas Vaišaitis (John Vaisch). Until the Second World War, when lowering and raising the Lithuanian national flag, the carillon automatically played the melodies of S. Šimkus's "We were born Lithuanians" and Č. Sasnauskas's "Maria, Maria". From August 1, 1940, after solemnly lowering the Lithuanian national flag, the bells were no longer rung.

The carillon rang again in 1956 when composers V. Kuprevičius and his son G. A. Kuprevičius began performing concerts (regularly since 1957); V. Kuprevičius, either solo or with his son, organized more than 10,000 bell music concerts. From 1983, the Kaunas Carillon was also played by carillonists Julius Vilnonis, Raimundas Eimontas. In 2006, the carillon was fundamentally renewed, restored and supplemented with another 14 bells, cast in the Royal Eijsbouts company. From 2015, the carillon has been played by Austėja Staniunaitytė-Proietta. Since 2017, the International Kaunas Carillon Music Festival has been held every September.

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Information about the carillon and the history of the instrument is quoted from the Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia.

Concerts are FREE of charge.