1. Flemish Prelude
2. Arioso in late Baroque style
3. Scherzo
4. Convocation March

Several of the carillon students I have taught at Culver over the years have gone on to continue their carillon activity at their respective universities. Haomin "Ivy" Chen graduated from Culver Girls Academy in 2017. She went on to Wellesley College. Wellesley has a carillon, with lovely bells, but there are only 32 of them. Most of the carillon repertoire requires a 4-octave instrument (47 or more bells), and there is very little music written for 2.5 octaves. Knowing that Ivy was planning to continue carillon activity at Wellesley, I wrote her some music to play there (and of course to share with others at Wellesley). I couldn't resist a punning title for the set, and Ivy, who has a delightful sense of humor, was fine with it.

At Culver, Ivy was particularly stimulated by a "Preludium in the Flemish Style" in my method book. She indicated she would like something similar to play at Wellesley, so the first piece is another "Flemish" piece, written for the Wellesley carillon in particular (though playable on any larger carillon as well, of course). Patterned after the compositions of Jef Denyn, Staf Nees, and Jef Rottiers, teachers at the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, the "Flemish Prelude" features extreme dynamic contrasts, flamboyant musical gestures, and extensive use of "tremolando" (reiterating notes as one would do on a marimba), with a contrasting, lyric middle section.

The second piece is patterned after the 18th-century pieces by composers such as Joannes de Gruytters and Joseph-Hector Fiocco, both of whom were active in Belgium in the 18th century. A special feature of this little piece is the extensive "recitative," a free passage in which the performer is invited to play it in the manner of a free improvisation. This caters especially to the interpretive freedom Ivy and I worked so hard to cultivate! The third piece is a scherzo, a rapid piece with a somewhat humorous character, most often in an ABABA form. The final movement is a stately march intended to be appropriate in the context of an academic convocation. Really, I am very pleased that I was able to provide some interesting, practical repertoire for my former student—which of course will also benefit other students at Wellesley in the future. These pieces all work fine on a larger carillon, of course.

—John Gouwens