Chime in, New Year!
Time to Chime in, Big Ben!
The iconic chimes of the world’s most famous clock, Big Ben, have been silent in London for the last four years. But that’s all about to change on New Year’s Day, 2022!
At midnight on New Year’s Day, the bell will be struck twelve times using a temporary drive mechanism, which replicates the chime created by the original Victorian mechanism which drops a hammer on the bell every 4.5 seconds.
Big Ben and the four quarter bells are set to resume sounding the famous daily melody and resonant bongs using the original mechanism in Spring 2022.
Big Ben is the nickname for a bell inside the famous clock tower that has been under restoration and renamed “Elizabeth Tower” in 2012 to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
The tune that Big Ben plays is called Westminster Quarters, and contains only 4 notes (actual pitches are G#, F#, E and B)
The longest version of the tune is heard every hour - parts and short versions of the tune are heard at a quarter past the hour, at half past, and at a quarter to the hour - followed by the strikes for the hour
The tune was written in 1793 for a new clock in Great St. Mary’s Church in the centre of Cambridge by whom we do not know, and adopted by Westminster Cathedral in the mid-19th Century
Westminster Quarters is now the most popular tune for church bells and can be heard all over the world - including The Peace Tower in Ottawa, Canada
“Westminster Quarters & Auld Lang Syne”
In Celebration of the New Year, I have teamed up Big Ben’s melody with the traditional Scottish tune, Auld Lang Syne (composer unknown, lyrics by Robert Burns.)
The pitches of both tunes belong to the pentatonic scale within the key of F Major. Big Ben’s melody has been modified here to be played in 4/4 time, rather than 3/4. Listen for the distinctive chimes!