A new CD with a peal

By Kathleen Maclay, Public Affairs

21 August 2002 | You no longer have to be on campus to listen to the sounds of the carillon bells of the campus’s best-known landmark, the Campanile. Now all you need is a CD player.

A new compact disc, “All Hail! Blue and Gold,” is the product of collaboration between the UC Berkeley Department of Music and the Berkeley Historical Society.

It took sound engineers more than a year to record the music played by carillonists Jeff Davis, David Hunsburger, John Agraz and Ronald Barnes without aural interference from constant campus construction or high winds.

The CD includes a rare performance of “All Hail! All Blue!” played on the original 12 bells of the John Galen Howard-designed tower, Jane Sather’s memorial to her husband, Peder Sather. Also on the recording is “Danny Deaver,” a song traditionally played just before finals, as well as Cal campus songs, a song written by the first faculty chimesmaster, Henry Stafford King, and “In Memorium” by John Courter, who wrote the piece shortly after September 11.

The CD will be sold starting Sept. 1 at the UC Student Store, shops along Telegraph Avenue, the Solano Stroll on Sept. 8, and the Berkeley History Center.

The cost will be $17.50 per CD, with UC Berkeley carillon programs and the Berkeley Historical Society sharing the proceeds.