Westminster Quarters and the chimes of The Elizabeth Tower
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ค. 2019
- One of the world's best known melodies, the chimes of The Elizabeth Tower or the clock tower of Westminster Palace, crosses cultural boundaries. This is the forgotten history of that song also called the "Westminster Quarters."
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As images of actual events are sometimes not available, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by JCG
#history #thehistoryguy #england
There is a lot of discussion over the name of Elizabeth Tower. This is my understanding from the official page of Parliament: The tower was never named St Stephen's Tower. That misconception apparently came because newspapers used to refer to actions of parliament as "coming from St Stephens." That was not a reference to the Clock Tower, but to the fact that MPs originally sat in St Stephen's Hall. Prior to being officially named "The Elizabeth Tower" in 2012 the tower was only ever officially referred to as the "Clock Tower." The actual tower named St Stephen's Tower is positioned in the middle of the west front of the Palace, between Westminster Hall and Old Palace Yard, and houses the public entrance to the Houses of Parliament, known as St Stephen's Entrance. Victoria Tower, at the south-west end, is the tallest of towers of the Palace of Westminster.
The large bell is commonly called by the nickname Big Ben, but is actually officially named "the Great Bell."
As to using the nickname Big Ben, the official page of Parliament acknowledges that "The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell."
I was astounded to hear you say about Trinity Episcopal Church in Eillusmdpiry Pennsylvania using The Westminster chime in their click tower starting in 1875. Thank you for an interesting episode.
Very appropriate bow tie Sir! I approve :)
thank you ☕
Thanks for that additional explanation. When I was living in England back in 1972, I first encountered the use of St. Stephen's to refer to the tower (and as the name of a restaurant across the street). Always wondered why I couldn't find any reference that actually identified the tower as anything but the Clock Tower. I appreciate your clearing that confusion up.
And I love that you keep coming up with these wonderfully unusual topics that connect so many things together. Thanks.
My daughter served in the British army's Adjutant General's Corps and I'm absolutely convinced that hat with the red band, second from the top, is her regimental hat. It has the same pattern and colours and also appears to have the regimental badge. C'mon history guy, who's is it? Here's a story about the chimes that I found very moving during a programme on the history of the tower on the TV. The keeper of the tower told a story of an old man from Holland who visited it and he was stood next to him when the clock chimed and he burst into tears. The keeper asked him why he was moved so much and the man told him that during the war he and his family would secretly listen to the BBC news, begun by Big Ben. He told him that as long as that clock kept chiming, they was hope.
I love that you find such varied things to investigate and present to us
Agreed!
That's the best 19th century recording I've ever heard. Just amazing.
That was my grandmothers front door bell chime. I think us grandkids rang that enough to where she got to dislike it or us. Thanks for the memory.
I swear, after the open, I expected to hear "this is the BBC". And I'm American -.-
Fantastic small bits of history add so much flavor to life.
BBC World Service...the news, read by
A history of the BBC, as told by a Yank (even if he's an Anglophile), would be fascinating, but probably wouldn't fit into the "short snippets" format.
As a child growing up in Oakland California during the 50's and 60's, I'd ride my bike through the pretty campus of Mills College, and would hear those famous chimes-- but it was years before I'd know that they were modeled on Big Ben, and only today did I learn the origin. Thanks!
Never had I imagined something recorded in 1870 can sound so cool... another Home Run History Guy!!!
Lived in England from 1961 to 1964 and on trips to London with the family heard the bells often.
No recording can do them justice. The sound makes everyone stop and listen.
You will actually turn and face the tower while it is ringing, it is said that is how to tell tourists from natives...well that and tourists always used to carry cameras as well.
Nice spot to visit, try the Fish and Chips with malt vinegar, it will make you happy all day.
An opinion: the secret behind the Westminster Chimes' "stickiness" as a musical passage is its sequence. Four tones only (1,2,3,and 5, major key), arranged to ask a "question"; and give an "answer". If the keynote is 1; the sequence is: 3-1-2-5 ...5-2-3-1/ 3-2-1-5...5-2-3-1. The 3-1 is a universally satisfying musical resolution to the "question" posed by the 2-5, or the 1-5 in the second phrase. It's almost the fewest notes you can use, to get that "call and response" with such comforting completion. Effects like that matter to people, whether they can describe why or not.
Please do not stop. My kids have learned more thru you than years of public schooling . THANK YOU!
My dad gave me my first shortwave radio for Christmas when I was ten years old. Once I put up a crude antenna, the first station I heard was BBC with an identifier using the Westminster chimes. It took me about 40 years but I was finally able to see and hear the chimes in person.
Thank you for keeping History alive when today its not being taught in schools anymore
I used to attend a class that met at Trinity Episcopal Church, Williamsport PA. So fun that it ended up in a History Guy segment!
Thanks again for all the interesting essays each day. Whether I am familiar with the subject or not, watching for the first time or reviewing an old segment, I am always interested. Very well researched and presented! Thanks!
Padraic Farrell I’ve photographed numerous weddings there myself. Nice to see Lycoming County gets a shout out by THG
The evolution of time it's marking and passing has occupied us since we first needed to know when to awaken. Westminister sounding it's passage throughout the world. Tolling, welcomes or warnings, joy or sorrow., from carillon and handbell choirs to inspiring Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, tintinnabulation, indeed binds humanity. Thank you, Sir.
One would think chimes every 15 minutes day and night would be distracting, but I have found them fantastically comforting. They seem to anchor one's self to home and hearth. Especially poignant through difficult times, I imagine the clocktower would have done so for all Londoners as it continued with steadfast gravitas throughout the blitz.
my great grandmother's grandfather clock would chime the Westminster quarters. Good memories for me.
Enjoy ALL of your history shorts. Thank you.
I am sure I'm not the first to mention the Historic Fact that The History Guy just had to Chime in with this episode! So must History does he share so many of us will know and remember important events. Thank you.
My father was a Horologist and taught me with absolute precision how this chime came to be. Thank you!
The rythym of the 'Regulators' is still the rytrhym of my life, with or without chimes.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
In 2007 i was in London with my brother, one night we were across the river next to Parliament bridge at 10pm.
I must say in it was a magical moment i will treasure for the rest of my life. We could feel the vibrations in our guts.
Thank you Sir for the privilege of being able to hear that recording. I was absolutely speechless..
Nice touch at the end!
Listening to a 129 year old recording!😁🕚
There was a radio station in St. Louis, in the 1960's, that used the Westminster chime sequence for their station identifier. KXOK, in St. Louis, Missouri. Every time I hear that chime I still hear the KXOK identifier in my head. VERY effective advertising I would say though at the time I had no idea that it was the Westminster chime sequence.
As much as I enjoy the big Ben clock and the chimes., The fact that the Westminster tune has gone all over the world and transcends culture and regional differences, also tells me that he is the Mark of the empire of Great Britain that they were able to spread their culture so far and so wide that it is now influencing the cultures of the world. My home church in New York (Lutheran) used to ring the church bells to call people to service, and also to announce the passing of an important person or a church member by ringing the number of years he had live. I always thought of it as a celebration of that life, and it brought me great comfort. Pity they don’t do that anymore, because most church bells are now considered an annoyance.
The History Guy should have a small parting segment on Sunday Morning on CBS...his style tone and delivery would make for a perfect end to each week's episode
The MSM would cheapen the HG with their duplicity and lies.
He has too much integrity to be fouled by their scheming and lying.
A side-note which you may find interesting:
The two soldiers pictured inside the Elizabeth Tower are officers of the Royal Corps of Signals. They go up into the tower each year on Remembrance Sunday, and set up comms with the Royal Horse Artillery battery which sets up at Green Park. From the tower, they tell the gunners exactly when to fire their salute. They need to do this precisely, because the first strike of the bell and the first boom of the guns must reach the Cenotaph on Whitehall at exactly the same time. However, Big Ben and the guns at Green Park are different distances from the Cenotaph, thus the sound takes longer to travel from the guns than from the bells.
Incidentally, I love the bow-tie!
I'm a Londoner and I learned something new tome about London. Thanks. Love the Union Jack Dickie Bow by the way!
Hi History Guy and Gal. I want to thank you both for all of your hard work and excellent presentations of History Deserves to Be Remembered. I look forward to your documentaries and really enjoy sharing your channel with friends. Your programs are very important heading into the 20'20's. History should never be forgotten, and sometimes never repeated. Your diligence in research, production and making history casual, fun, and in depth, is unique in today's media. I would like to express how much I personally respect and enjoy your work and hope you both continue and grow with HDTBR.
Just love those really old recordings from the 1800's. It's the dawn of technology that has yet to come for them back then. Plus, they just sound so cool.
I loved the old recording of the chimes at the end
I'm really glad you made this video. It's about time!
the sound of Victorian London, 129 years ago. its both haunting and exciting to listen to.
Just wow. Sound is an incredible window into the past!
Oddly, when I was in choir in high school, we had Christmas lyrics for this melody. I remember them to this day because the tune is so familiar. "Big bells do chime, Christmas is here. And when it comes, it brings good cheer." And that was in 1963-64. Been a while :-)
West minister chime is also frequently used to test electronic tornado sirens across many towns in America.
My grandfather made a cherry grandfather clock for my mother about twenty years ago. It stands in her living room and when it chimes, it chimes the Westminster Quarters. It has other chimes, but honestly that one is the most tasteful. She has to be careful that a cat doesn't hop in the bottom and get locked in when she winds it!
You can take the most boring topic and make is so interesting. Such a talent sir. Thank you.
Loved that old recording at the end, to think over 100 years old.
Couple of trivia notes involving use of the Westminster Chimes... one of my oldest childhood memories is the opening title sequence to PBS's old "Wall Street Week," which used a recording of the first permutation of the chime to start its theme song. One of the odder uses of it, though, has to be as an alternative tone used for testing all-electronic outdoor warning sirens; while the electromechanical siren can only be tested by firing it up in the alert tone, all-electronic ones are basically giant speaker sets on poles, and somewhere along the line, it was decided by the manufacturers that a (low-fidelity, often off-key) rendition of the Westminster Chimes might be seen as a less objectionable sound to have blasted at full volume for a test than a siren howl.
One of the reasons for the Westminster chimes popularity was their use in radio broadcasts . I believe that the chimes introduced regular segments during ww2.
Just last week I was thinking about this tune and wishing I had the royalties on it. I couldn't agree more that this is one that deserves to be remembered. Nothing transcends all cultural barriers the way music does.
When I was a pre-teen we had three Edison players that used the cylinders, and over 50 cylinders. My dad gave them away to a college teacher who took them to a museum in Buffalo NY, along with some Native American artifacts we had. My great grand father had been a dealer and sold them in the little store in the front of our house. He was also a blacksmith as was his father, and the store was a stage coach stop at one time. He also sold British made stationary steam engines and later American made engines and tractors.
A very pleasant surprise at the end
I just have to say, that bow tie was perfect.
I remember staying the night with some friends when I was younger, and this tune would some how put me at ease, and I would sleep so heavily. This is awesome, as all of your videos are, and I thank you for posting this :)
I really treasure these glimpses into a past almost forgotten. If you hadn’t told us I’d have never know there were words to this simple tune. Unfortunately, how far the world has drifted from their simple prayer of God’s protection. Thank you, Mr. History Guy!
Westiminster chimes are also used in some schools (mainly in Japan) to indicate that the school day is beginning.
Gastown Steam Clock and Otaru also plays this tune. This has been going for years and I love these clocks and I always love hearing it every 15 minutes.
I used to ring the Westminster/Cambridge Chimes tune from the Crouse College carrillon at Syracuse University. It was one of the neatest things you could do, and could be heard for a mile (or more on cold winter days). I was so terrified of making a mistake during my 15 minute program that I would go up 15-30 minutes before I was to ring, just so I could silently practice (I rang 5:45-6:00pm, tolling the 3/4 and full hour, with music in between). We Chimemasters always rang the SU Alma Mater right before tolling the hour with Westminster Chimes.
Hearing this reminds me of A Christmas Carol. The chiming of the bells is a major point of Scrooge tracking time. Perhaps when Christmas comes closer there can be a History Guy episode about A Christmas Carol. Loving the channel.
H.G., your Union Jack bowtie rocks. Another fine story about a tune that you never would think about where it origins came from.
When I was in Grade School Our Principal played them on a xylophone for announcements and to call us to prayer. "Hark to the chimes, Come bow your head, We thank the Lord, For this our bread. Aaaaaaaammmmmeeen.
Just noticed the Union Jack bow-tie
You have to do an episode on bow-ties
The history of the neck tie would be interesting
@@Gribbo9999 I would be happy with either an episode on neckties or bow ties. Of course, the History Guy could do one on the history of dirt and it would be interesting.
@@oldesertguy9616
We would learn more about dirt then we thought possible.
Bow ties are cool 😁
To Miss Ferguson and Graham Hope...Thank you. Suddenly I want to know more about you...I can see why the History Guy loves History!!
Hearing that just ripped me back to college, Montana State's clock tower played it.
That recording... To realize you're listening to something Queen Victoria probably heard, from a time with no airplanes flying overhead, virtually no cars in the street. It's haunting.
Fun episode. Thanks HG. In many orchestras in which I have played, we used the Westminster Quarters to call the audience back into the hall after intermission. Often it was done by a conspiracy of trombonists, tiptoeing into the percussion section to strike the chimes. ;)
I've never noticed that, on the hour, the first measure and the third measure are actually different! The clock tower where I live does the Westminster chimes, but occasionally one of the bells is, for whatever reason, silent. The third and fourth notes in the first and third measures also sound very slightly faster than usual, but I put it down to being just a quirk of this particular clock.
Thank you for the wonderful history of the chimes! And the bow-tie was very fitting.
Thank You for sharing this with us. It is amazing to hear something recorded 129 years ago. I also have to belatedly thank those who recorded it. For some reason I just can't get over hearing that?
I first heard this melody emanating from Orton Hall at The Ohio State University as a freshman in September 1975. I later learned it originated with in Great Britain at Westminster Tower and not at OSU! The Ohio State marching band also plays a rendition of the Westminster Chimes before playing the Alma Mater, Carmen Ohio at football games. Now I know the history behind this melody.
Thanks, Lance! Very interesting, and what I find most interesting is the fact that a Edison Brown Wax Cylinder from 1890 still works!
I'm glad we've surpassed the Wax Cylinder format for audio recordings... Awesome recordings never the less!
Nevertheless is a compound word - just a little correction 😏.
@@Pluggit1953 Correcting people is rude. Just a little correction.
@@Pluggit1953 I've also seen never-the-less... I was just lazy and did it my way :-P.
@@Pluggit1953 Take a day off being Mr Internet eh
Mike Young it’s correcting bad English. twat.
His neck has been colonized by the UK...
And no doubt we have big Ben to thank for one of the most iconic rock songs of the late twentieth century, hells bells by acdc, which would have been such a blight on music history had the song been written and not performed. Rock on history guy.
Very interesting and informative presentation, fittingly topped off with an historical wax cylinder recording of the 4 quarter-hour chimes followed by an 11th hour strike! Well done, History Guy!
Love the recording at the end, almost 129 years ago...Wow!
Reminds me of when I watched the house of a antique clock collector, he had close to a hundred clocks from one hundred to four hundred years old. They all rang at about the same time, which made it hard to sleep until I got used to all the ticking and ringing. Good times! Thanks for the memories!
@The History Guy - What an appropriate bow tie for this presentation! Beautiful and pleasingly complex chimes. Your account of their universality gives hope for a brotherhood of humanity. Your shows are like a movie where one watches to the very end so as not to miss anything "extra" in the credits! I enjoy listening to church bells on Sundays whenever I am able. I've yet to listen to those of the Elizabeth Tower "in person".
When I first started watching this I thought "It's finally happened! The History guy is off his dial"! But as it went on, I realized that the segment was providing entertainment and enlightenment with you usual...er....clock like precision! Cheers Mate!
Great video, I had those notes drummed into me over the four years as an undergraduate at the State University of new York at Albany.
For 50+ years I have thought, and been taught, that the chiming was coming from "big ben". And now I find it was the name of the largest bell in the tower. Love ya History Guy.
The story of the first Purple Heart. It was earned less then a mile from where I grew up and a family has bought the st George manor where it was earned and built a museum there.
As always, wonderful episode. I love the tie, and the bowler on the skull on the desk. Great ending as well.
Then feeling of tension, followed by resolution, that that specific chord cadence (1-5-5-1) creates in us is fairly universal because it uses the first few harmonies in the Harmonic Series. I'd argue it's a little masochistic to build this tension in ourselves over the course of an hour only to release it on the hour to mark the passage of time, not unlike a smoker who is counting the minutes until they can step outside for a smoke break. Leonard Bernstein did a series of lectures called "The Unanswered Question" where in the first episode he gives a really good, brief history of the Harmonic Series and its implications in western music. The whole thing is on TH-cam and worth a watch for anyone interested in syntax of music.
Fun fact up until recently, The world's largest 4 sided clock was in Milwaukee WI, The Alen-Bradly clock tower. It did not chime, so that Big Ben was still The world's largest 4 sided "Chiming" clock tower.
A great story about how the chimes came into use.
This was a fascinating video for me - about a sound I have heard all my life and never really thought about it - 'til now. Thank you
The clock can tel you more than just the time. It can even tell a story about trees!
The bowtie was a good choice for this history bit , nice touch
Nicely done. Why would anyone question your naming it the Elizabeth Tower? Your research is always impressive, thorough, and accurate.
Rockin' the bow tie! Love it! Thanks for another excellent video ... and history lesson!
Second! Where did they come from? There has to be a good story in there somewhere!
I’m glad to finally have found someone else who loves history as much as I do.
Wonderful.
Union Jack bow tie noted.
Good touch.
Quite amazed that wax cylinder can still be played!
I love this channel because I'm always learning something about a subject I never thought I wanted to know about. I had never even considered where the tune came from when a church clock struck the hour.
The tie makes it work. Good man.
The chimes are also played by The Ohio State University Marching Band at football games as introduction to the school's Alma Mater, echoing those that ring throughout the day from the carillon at Orton Hall.
Well I've looked at and photographed Westminster Palace ("Big Ben") from the very high vantage point of the London Eye and this video was *at least* as emotional as that experience. Top work HG.
Incidentally the London Eye was so high, they gave British Airways the job of running it, and a trip on the Eye is called a "flight". Perhaps that is also a worthy subject for the History Guy treatment?
You never disappoint. Very good episode! ☺
The simple beauty, longevity, and universality are fabulous. Thank you for this presentation, and especially for the recording.
I returned to U.S. from London on 1 May 2019. I missed the tolling of the passage of time from The Elizabeth Tower for the reason you observed in this piece on "Westminster Quarters" that the tower is undergoing renovation. Indeed the tower is silent and shrouded in scaffolding and plastic and not worthy of a photograph for a while.
In a different direction, responding to your request for suitable topics for future episodes on The History Guy, I request an episode on the topic of "The Navy Corpsman". In my life I have often had to explain in detail how my four year enlistment in the U.S. Navy led me to serving 19 months with the U.S. Marine Corps, including 12 months in Vietnam, April '67 to April '68. During the course of the Vietnam War 699 Navy Corpsmen died. Their names are on The Wall and they deserve to be remembered. More people need to know the history of the Navy Corpsmen and how they get to serve with the Marines.
Very interesting today and of course the best reason to wear the Union Jack bow tie.
Best display of the Union Jack on screen is at the beginning of The Spy Who Loved Me, when that chute opens up and the Bond music kicks in it was the perfect hook for a 12 year old kid in America.
Nice touch with the Union Jack bow tie!
Nice episode! It is funny, I currently live in Halle (the hometown of G. F. Händel) and I hear the Westminster chime almost every day when I pass by the "Red Tower" at the market square.
Masterful presentation today THG! Your final monologue made me tear up and laugh at the same time!
Thank you.
This has got to be the most interesting topic you have presented. Something we take for granted everyday, yet the interwoven history that made it is incredible. Like why 24 hour days, the 360 degree circle? Thanks!
I'm ashamed to say I briefly wondered if that could be a clip-on tie. Such dark thoughts are unbecoming of THG viewers! Thank you THG.
SHAME!SHAME.
What a gem! Thank you my friend!
Sad that you didn't reference the use of Big Ben chimes to preface the start of BBC news, especially during WWII where the chimes sounded particularly haunting.