The Westminster Quarters is the most common name for a
melody used by a set of clock bells to chime on each quarter hour. The number
of chime sets matches the number of quarter hours that have passed. It is also
known as the Westminster Chimes, or the Cambridge Chimes from its place of
origin, the church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge.
The melody consists of five different permutations of
four pitches in the key of E major. The pitches are B3, E4, F♯4 and G♯4.
The permutations are:
g♯4, f♯4, e4, b3
e4, g♯4, f♯4, b3
e4, f♯4, g♯4, e4
g♯4,
e4, f♯4, b3
b3, f♯4, g♯4, e4
Played as three crotchets and a dotted minim. These
permutations are always played in order, and each permutation is used twice
every hour. Different quantities of permutations are played at each
quarter-hour: one set at the first quarter, two sets at the half, and so forth,
as follows:
First Quarter
Second Quarter (half hour)
Third Quarter
Fourth Quarter (full hour) with hour chime (3 o’clock shown)
This chime is traditionally, though without
substantiation, believed to be a set of variations on the four notes that make
up the fifth and sixth measures of "I know that my Redeemer liveth"
from Handel's Messiah. This is why the chime is also played by the bells of
the so-called 'Red Tower' in Halle, the native town of Handel. It was written
in 1793 for a new clock in St Mary the Great, the University Church in
Cambridge. There is some doubt over exactly who composed it: Rev Dr Joseph
Jowett, Regius Professor of Civil Law, was given the job, but he was probably
assisted by either Dr John Randall (1715–99), who was the Professor of Music
from 1755, or his brilliant undergraduate pupil, William Crotch (1775-1847).
In the mid-19th century the chime was adopted by the
clock tower at the Palace of Westminster (where Big Ben hangs), whence its fame
spread. It is now possibly the most commonly used chime for striking clocks.
According to the church records of Trinity Episcopal
Church (Williamsport, Pennsylvania), this chime sequence was incorporated into
a tower clock mechanism by the E. Howard & Co., Boston, MA. The clock and
chime in Trinity's steeple base was dedicated in December 1875. It holds the
distinction of being the first tower clock in the United States to sound the
Cambridge Quarters.
The lyric inscribed in the Big Ben clock room reads:
All through
this hour
Lord, be my
guide
And by Thy
power
No foot shall
slide.
The conventional lyrics for the tune are:
O Lord our God
Be Thou our
guide
That by thy
help
No foot may
slide.
An alternative lyric changes the third line:
O Lord our God
Be Thou our
guide
So by Thy power
No foot shall
slide.
A variation on this, to the same tune, is sung at the end
of a Brownie meeting in the UK and Canada:
Oh Lord our God
Thy children
call
Grant us Thy
peace
And bless us
all.
Love knowing this! I have two grandfather clocks, a grandmother clock and an old kitchen clock that is erratic so I don't wind the chimes. Just love my clocks and listening to them chime. Added a coo coo clock not too long ago. Oh the "Sound" of sweet music every fifteen minutes! :)
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