Homecoming fanfare culminates events rededicating chimes

A brass ensemble on Uris Library's roof premieres the composition "Resound," Nov. 6, under the direction of music lecturer David Conn. The ensemble was accompanied on the chimes by seniors Grace Jean, head chimesmaster, and Christine Henzler. Below, audience members -- including Rosa Rhodes, left, wife of President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes; Allegra Schafer '99, last year's head chimesmaster, third from right; and President Emeritus Dale Corson and his wife, Nellie, at right -- react to the music. Photographs by Frank DiMeo/University Photography

By Annie Litvak '02

This past Saturday, Cornell rang in the new -- in style.

A ceremony on Ho Plaza, Nov. 6, officially rededicated the Cornell Chimes and brought together five generations of Cornell alumni, students, faculty and staff to mark the return of a seminal Cornell tradition and a special homecoming.

The chimes made their debut at the university's opening ceremonies in 1868 and have been an irreplaceable component of campus life ever since. They were absent for almost a year, ending this past July, as part of an extensive retuning project at the time much of McGraw Tower also was being refurbished.

"The first chimes concert brought together the newly assembled student body and faculty on the first day of school," said David Yeh, Cornell assistant vice president for student and academic services and university registrar, who opened the ceremony by recognizing the important contribution of the alumni donors and other friends of the chimes. He expressed appreciation to everyone who participated in helping the project become a reality.

The bells were removed from McGraw Tower in June of 1998 and shipped to a bell foundry in Ohio -- Meeks, Watson & Co.-- where two new bells were cast and a third one was added. Finally, for the first time in their history, the set of 21 bells were tuned together. In May of this year, the bells were returned to campus and a set of 12 was assembled in front of Sage Chapel for a graduation concert. In September the bells, complete with new dedication inscriptions and a much-improved tone, were reinstalled in McGraw Tower on a new metal frame with a new playing stand and a state-of-the-art playing clavier.

"Even when the chimes were away, we all made sure to stay in touch," said Allegra Schafer '99, head chimesmaster during the 1998-99 school year, of efforts by the chimesmasters to keep the tradition alive during the year of silence. Schafer spoke about her trip to Ohio to monitor the progress of the tuning and her personal feelings about the Cornell tradition. "The chimes are part of the heartbeat of the campus," she said during Saturday's ceremony, adding that they "represent not only the mood of the chimesmasters but the spirit of Cornell and Ithaca."

Standing in at the ceremony for President Hunter Rawlings, who was attending a hastily prepared press conference with New York Gov. George Pataki on campus, Vice President Susan Murphy told the crowd about an early proposal to substitute the real chimes, during their absence, with computer generated music -- an idea that was met by universal opposition from the chimesmasters and others involved with the project, she said.

"The Cornell chimes are one of the few [sets] that are still played by musicians rather than computer programmers," Murphy noted. "Virtually every student that leaves the Cornell campus takes with them the 'Jennie McGraw Rag,' the 'Alma Mater' and the occasional birthday dedications [performed on the chimes]," she said.

The ceremony reached its culmination with a rousing world premiere of "Resound," a composition by graduate student Damon Lee commissioned for the occasion. The piece, written for the chimes and a brass band of 16, stationed on the roof of Uris Library, brought the crowd to its feet.

The six-minute composition was followed by an energetic rendition of the Cornell Alma Mater.

Earlier in the week, as part of the rededication events, Richard Watson, master bell tuner for Meeks, Watson & Co., joined a panel discussion on the music and physical composition of the bronze bells, and then later, with McGraw Tower project manager James Bucko, discussed the intricate bell-tuning process and the past-year's work on repairing the weather-worn tower.

"The bells are a very symbolic, non-quantifiable part of Cornell and the undergraduate experience," said Marisa Piliero, the project coordinator for student and academic services. Piliero, who has been involved with the tuning project since January 1998, expressed complete satisfaction with the results of a year of planning for Saturday's event.

"The bells have been ringing since the university began, and I hope they ring for at least another 100 years," she said.