Heaven's Bells: The secret of the St. Joseph carillon

Thebells of St. Josephs oratory are hidden in plain earshot.

Thepeal of the 10,900kilogram bellsis so loud, it can be heard from Queen Mary Road hundreds of meters down the hill. But few know for whomor howthe bells toll.

Despite its size, St. Josephs carillon, the instrument used to sound the bells, is easy to miss on a tour of the oratory.

I used to hear the bells since I was little when I came to the oratory, but I never knew there was someone who played them with an instrument, saidAndre-Anne Doane, who, in 2009, became St. Josephs fourth titular carillonneur.

For many people,its something that isnt very well-known.

With a big smile to match her Julie Andrews-style hair cut, Doane never misses an opportunity to show a chance visitor how the instrument works.

Last week, she taught three-and-a-half year-old Tamara Snir, on a tour of the oratory with her parents, how to use a closed fist to play the practice carillons long wooden keys, which look like broom handles. On the real instrument, each key is directly linked to a clapper that strikes the bell.

This is great, said Tamaras mother, Catherine Gosselin-Snir, watching her daughter play. Inside the oratory, they wouldnt let her touch anything.

Bells came to Montreal on loan

St. Josephs carillon is the only one in Quebec and one of only 11 in Canada.

Unlike other instruments of its kind, the carillon at St. Josephs isnt housed at the top of a tall, stately Victoria towerlike the 40,900 kilogram carillon in Parliaments Peace Tower in Ottawa.

Instead, its 56 bells sit above the green copper roof of a small, discreet concrete building separate from the basilica, beside a cafeteria and a boutique selling souvenir postcards and saintly key chains.

St. Josephs obscure instrument has a secret of its own. Cast at the Paccard foundry in France, the bells were supposedly made to fit a belfry in the Eiffel Tower.

It is, in fact, true, Pierre Paccard, whose father sold the bells to the oratory, wrotein an email.

But, the project was abandoned for technical reasons.I remember my father telling me so after having spent an afternoon in the Eiffel Tower structure.

The plan was scrapped after residents of the seventh arrondissement in Paris complained that the bells would be too noisy, according to an article from 1967 in a now-defunct publication calledPerspectives.

Doane says the father Elphge Brassard, on a tour of France, obtained the bells for the oratory on loan for its 50thanniversary.

Hundreds of faithful packed the basilica on Feb. 27, 1955 to attend the blessing of the bells by Cardinal Paul-mile Lger, Archbishop of Montreal.

The oratory made the carillons stay in Montreal permanent thanks to donations from the faithful. Its home in the low belfry near the cafeteria, on the old grounds of Brother Andrs chapel, was meant to be temporary, but the bells are still there 58 years on.

Carillonneurs with an the audience

Carillonneurs who have played at St. Josephs say the instruments unusual location has its advantages.

People can peer in through the window and watch as its being played. Its clearly a live performance every time its played, and thats really a benefit, said Andrea McCrady, the oratorys carillonneur from 1976 to 1980. Theres more of a connection than most carillonneurs have with their audience.

Since 2008, McCrady has tolled the bells in Parliaments Peace Tower as the Dominion Carillonneur of Canada, the only paid full-time carillon position in Canada other than the job at the oratory.

McCrady learned to play the instrument at the chapel tower of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut before landing a traveling fellowship to study the carillon at Europes prestigious carillon schools.

I was a sort of ... not who you would expect to be playing the carillon at St. Josephs,- AndreaMcCrady, former St. Joesph'scarillonneur

When she moved to Montreal in 1976 to study medicine at McGill University, she was then an unlikely choice for St. Josephs carillonneur.

Im not Catholic, Im not even Canadian, much less Qubecois, McCrady said.

Im a damn Yankee and Im not even francophone, although I spoke French when I was in Montreal. So I was a sort ofI dont want to say a misfitnot who you would expect to be playing the carillon at St. Josephs, but it was certainly a privilege.

Her predecessor at the oratory,milien Allard, is among the most renowned carillonneurs in the worldwhich is to say that he isnt very widely known at all.

His carillon voice is unique and immediately recognizable just as Mozart is for the violin or the Dorseys for big band, said Gordon Slater, who succeeded Allard as Dominion Carillonneur of Canada in 1977 until 2008.

Allard was named Dominion Carillonneur of Canada in 1975, but wouldnt stay in the job long; he died of stomach cancer in November 1976.

Today, the oratorys bells still ring out toccatas,pomesand other compositions penned by Allard, which are part of Doanes repertoire.

• Read the full multimedia story: Heaven's Bells

About the project

Cte-des-NeigesChroniclesis a collaboration between CBC Montreal and the Diploma Program of the Department of Journalism at Concordia University.Students from an online journalism course were asked to report on Montreals Cte-des-Neigesneighborhood.They were also asked to push their storytelling skills through the use of photos, video and information graphicsThe result is a wide-ranging look at the history of Cte-des-Neiges, its key attractions, and theindividuals and communities that make up one of Montreals more diverse neighborhoods.

• Journalists' biographies
• ConcordiaUniversity's Visual Journalism program