Suite for Carillon (1934)

The carillon is a stationary set of large, chromatically tuned bells that are typically hung in a tower and played from a key-board and petal board. Between 1929-1933, the Curtis Institute of Music sent students to the Bok Singing Tower at the Mountain Lakes bird sanctuary in Lake Wales, Florida, to study carillon. The Bok Towers Gardens, on the estate of Edward and Mary Curtis Bok, were constructed in 1927. While at the Singing Tower, Berber took lessons from carillonneur Anton Brees and composed his Suite for Carillon. The suite was commissioned by Edward Bok, husband of Mary Curtis Bok, founder of the Curtis Institute of Music. The first and fourth movements were performed by Anton Brees on the carillon at Bok Tower Gardens on April 4th, 1931. Subsequent movements were added, with the suite completed in 1932 and published in 1934.

— Joel K. Boyd

The suite is included in the folio Barber: Music for Organ because it lends itself to performance on the organ.