by Daniel Hathaway
Before the holiday Americans observe on November 11 was renamed Veterans Day in 1954, Armistice Day marked the cessation of hostilities in World War I, when the peace agreement with Germany went into effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
This year, that date also marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the “Great War,” and the worldwide events planned to celebrate that milestone will importantly include the bells of the McGaffin Carillon at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle on Friday evening, November 9, and Sunday morning and afternoon, November 11.
On Friday at 8:00 pm, The Church of the Covenant and the CWRU Music Department will present Consolation, a collaborative program featuring the premiere of a new commissioned work by David N. Childs for mixed chorus, strings, timpani, harp, carillon, and handbells, to be performed by the Case Concert Choir, Church of the Covenant Chancel Choir, and the Consolation Chamber Orchestra. Solas incorporates poetry by Robert Graves and Charles Hamilton Sorley. “The McGaffin carillon has a small part as a prelude,” carillonneur George Leggiero said in a telephone conversation, “playing verses of a hymn written by a soldier.” The evening will also include music by Pearsall, Brahms, Reger, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Rheinberger. Tickets can be reserved online. [Read more…]
As a high school student, George Leggiero enjoyed collecting chiming clocks. When he arrived as a freshman at Case Western Reserve University, he couldn’t help but notice the mammoth chiming timepiece in the tower of the Church of the Covenant — especially when he moved next door into Mather House for his junior and senior years. “My room overlooked the tower, so you either got to love the bells or you moved,” he said in a telephone conversation.