Thomas R. Ort
Since 1929, the bells of Bock Tower have filled the air of Polk County with their bright and distinctive melodies. Given that the bells’ tones rarely change over the centuries, the music they produce speaks of eternity.
On Sundays, as it has for decades, the glorious tones emanating from the Bock Tower’s carillon help usher in Easter with a scheduled sunrise service at 7am. Gates open at 5:45am and admission to the gardens is free until 8am.
Geert D’hollander will participate on keyboards. Geert D’hollander has been active since his youth, studying piano, organ, chamber music, composition, choir conducting and conducting in Europe.
Like Edward Bock himself, the 57-year-old quadrilingual D’Hollander is an immigrant who came to America, fell in love with it, and became a citizen. With only about 600 carillons worldwide, D’Hollander’s full-time position as a carillon maker makes him a rare bird.
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Q. Describe your childhood – where did you grow up, what were your musical influences and when did you decide to pursue the instrument as a profession?.
A. I was born and raised in Belgium, where there are many carillons. My father was also a carillon craftsman. I have to imagine that you are a little boy of his 4 or his 5 and have the chance to climb with dad a medieval bell tower that no one else has access to. It’s a real adventure. It felt like Harry Potter. You can touch secret doors, bats, owls, giant clockwork and things that are 500 years old. No one around – a bit creepy, but incredible for small children. When I was 12, I said to his father, “I want to do it too.”
When I was 13, he took me to the Royal Carillon School near Antwerp, Belgium. This is the oldest carillon school in the world. He was a teacher there. He was 17 when I graduated. At that time, he said to me, “I will show you the most beautiful instrument in the world.” And he took me from Brussels to Bok Tower Gardens. I was his 17-year-old boy playing this instrument, never knowing that one day it would be mine. I wouldn’t have believed them if they had told me at the time, “One day you will be an American and this will be your tower.” I am his fourth in his 94 years. Carillon craftsman. In other words, once you get this job, you’re done. you don’t want to go anywhere else
Q. If you were to look around the world, where would you find the best instruments?
A. Nowhere. Among carillon makers, the Bock Tower is the holy grail. It has its reputation. Even Gardens – So many Floridians don’t even know about gardens. Everyone in Europe knows about Bock Tower Gardens.
Q. We have millions of pianos and thousands of organs, but not a lot of carillons, so there are very few jobs to play them. Was their scarcity a drawback or a draw?
A. One of my favorite things about Carillon was when I was a kid and I still love it. the physical side of it. If you’re playing challenging music, it gets very intense and you feel your whole body working. It’s like playing a sport at a very competitive level.The most difficult piano concertos are similar. There are 600 instruments in the world, but no two are the same, they are all different. So you have to adapt very quickly. Everyone hears you, so you can hardly rehearse.
Q. What are the characteristics of Bok’s carillon?
A. The sound of this carillon is exceptional. It was manufactured by the Taylor Company, considered the best in the world in the 1920s. And its intensity was a big bell. This carillon has bells with a total weight of over 60 tons. It sounds like an orchestra. That means you can arrange anything from Bach and Mozart to Lady Gaga. that’s abnormal. I make a lot of arrangements, but I don’t have enough time to write them all down, so I make a lot of them on the fly – improvisation.
Q. How many songs have you composed other than improvisation?
A. About 70 sheets.
Q. Is there a big difference in the pieces that can be played depending on the carillon?
A. There is a famous classic work called “Flight of the Bumblebee”. Play it on the violin and it sounds like a bumblebee. But if you score it for double bass, it sounds like a double bass. All songs composed for the carillon are therefore composed for a specific instrument. There are many factors to consider. how many bells How high or low is the tower? How much does the bell weigh? Other carillons in Florida include Gainesville, Clearwater, and Venice. The combined total weight of these instruments is still lighter than our instruments here, which is quite different. And that is the challenge of adapting your repertoire.
Q. Aside from instruments, who is your favorite composer and why?
A. Bach, and Mozart. Some composers might say that it would probably sound better if this or that could be done differently. not Bach. All notes are perfect. For Mozart, he does so much with minimal means. Started writing symphonies at the age of four or five. His last symphony was the year he died, one each in June, July and August. Seriously, how can you write so fast? I couldn’t copy that fast. It’s amazing.
Q. You are an immigrant, like Edward Bock, who built towers and gardens in gratitude to America. how was your trip
A. I came to the United States in the 1990s and came to Berkeley as a Carilloner and Professor of Music at the University of California and fell in love with the country. It wasn’t just music, it was all national parks. After three years, I was faced with the choice of staying in Berkeley or returning to Belgium. For some reason, it all came back to America from when I first played here when I was 17. I came here for a concert tour and made a lot of friends here. In 2012 I left Europe to live in the country I love most. I became a citizen five years ago.
Q. How would you rate the impact of Bock Tower Gardens on the community, arts and culture of the area?
A. This is a hidden gem in Florida. All of Bok’s senior directors here are trying to get as much public recognition as possible. Still, it’s a mystery to me why it doesn’t reach so many locals. It has been visited by millions since it opened in 1929. It has a great impact on many people around the world. So why can’t we get more people out of Polk County? Every year we get better and better, but it’s a struggle. It’s important to have a place like Bokutower where you can contribute to art in general where you need it. It is enough to go to New York. But here we need something more like the Bok Tower.
Q. One of your contributions since coming to Japan was starting the Carillon Fellows Program. You currently have a Yale University alumnus in California studying with you.
A. Students came from all over the world. One of the unique things about this place is that here he can play the carillon for hours a day, which is not possible anywhere else. Most others are in the middle of campus where people study or in the middle of the city. But Bock Tower is surrounded by this large buffer of citrus groves. You can play until midnight here and nobody complains. It’s a very unique program. Of course, we have students from Poland, Canada, Belgium, Holland and the USA. The students have to perform recitals of the program he three days a week for seven months. It’s about learning by doing.
Q. Bock Tower Gardens has celebrated the Easter Sunrise Service for nearly a century. What are your plans for this year?
A. I’ll probably improvise an Easter hymn. Whatever the mood, I’m going to do it. That’s what I love about improvising. You don’t program music two months in advance. How are you feeling two months later? Improvisation gives you a lot of freedom. Let’s say it’s a rainy day. You make people happy by playing uplifting music. The peculiarity of the carillon is that it can create collective happiness. You can annoy people, but you can definitely make them happy. That’s what I’m going to do for Easter.
To contact Thomas R. Oldt: tomolt@gmail.com.
