carillon

A carillon is a musical instrument comprised of up to 78 individual bells, tuned in a sequence similar to the notes of a piano.  The bells are played by one or more carillonneurs using a piano-like keyboard layout which has large wooden rods instead of keys, as is generally played with loose fists and feet. 
Texas Tech University added a carillon to the West Tower of the Administration building in 1976, three years after Ruth Baird Larabee made a donation to buy and install a carillon in memory of her parents, Charles and Georgia Robertson Baird. Hers was a family legacy of tintinnabular philanthropy, beginning with her maternal grandfather’s 19th-century donation of a church bell in Jewell, Kansas. In 1936, her father, the widowed Charles Baird, subsequently donated the Charles Baird Carillon to the University of Michigan and a Westminster-style set of bells to the University of Missouri. Ruth Baird was born in Ann Arbor, MI (in 1904) and spent her formative years in Kansas City, MO (1908-1922), and her father’s donations thus reflect the locations of Ruth’s youth. 

During and after her student days Ruth was a world traveler, including several trips to the southwestern United States. She resided in Lubbock for a few months during 1964, during which period she was sufficiently taken with new friends and Texas Technological College that she remembered the school in her will. Ruth passed away in 1969, the same year that Texas Technological College was renamed Texas Tech University. Aside from that brief visit, Ruth Baird has no other connection to Lubbock or to TTU, and so it is due to remarkable serendipity and the evident hospitality of Lubbock citizens that we gained this beloved icon. 

The Baird-Larabee Carillon quickly became part of treasured TTU traditions such as the Carol of Lights, and its majestic sound was and is a familiar part of the central campus. Through the generosity of the CH Foundation, and the leadership of Carolyn Kennedy and Provost William Marcy, the instrument was significantly refurbished and improved in 2004-5. Seven additional bells were added, a new keyboard console was installed, and a practice carillon was purchased and installed in the School of Music. This practice instrument proved to be a great benefit for TTU students who were interested in learning how to play the carillon, since practicing privately on an instrument that projects at least a half mile in all directions is clearly impossible! Due to the School of Music’s overcrowding and general limited accessibility of the practice carillon, an effort was begun in the summer of 2018 by music faculty member Peter Martens to find an suitable space dedicated to the practice instrument, one that would permit greater student access, and that would also serve the further purpose of publicly displaying the instrument, which is beautiful and unique in its own right. With support from the TTU Office of the President, a glass practice room was constructed in the foyer (Croslin Room) of the University Library, which now houses the practice carillon and a practice organ console. 

The Baird-Larabee Carillon has been played by myriad faculty, students, and visiting artists over the years. Since 1976, the post of University Carillonneur has been held in succession by Judson Maynard, Roy Wilson, Thomas Hughes, and Peter Martens. Longtime TTU composer Mary Jeanne Van Appledorn composed many pieces for the instrument, which she often performed herself.  

Both the practice console and the Baird-Larabee Carillon are overseen by the School of Music, and maintained through a CH Foundation endowment established during the 2004-5 renovations. The School of Music is grateful for the support of the donors, performers, custodians, and listeners who have woven this unique instrument into the fabric of Texas Tech.