No Quasimodo, he brings music to Notre-Dame bells

Int'l Herald Tribune (NYT) ^ | February 8, 2008 | John Tagliabue

[fishhound]

PARIS: Stéphane Urbain stood leaning against a heavy wood frame high in the north tower of Notre-Dame, wrapped in a navy blue woolen cape against the wind, as he waited for the bells to sound.

Then three of the four immense bells tolled, shaking the massive oak frame, which weighs more than 187 tons.

"C-sharp, D-sharp twice, F," Urbain said, a broad smile lighting up his face, even in the darkness of the bell cage.

Urbain, a 40-year-old chemist by training, is the chief sacristan of the cathedral. As such, he is also the chief bell ringer. His role often brings mention of Quasimodo, Victor Hugo's misshapen "Hunchback of Notre-Dame," who as the bell ringer was deafened by the volume.

Urbain rejects the comparison. "I am a little musical," he said, with characteristic understatement, receiving a visitor amid the robes and golden liturgical vessels of the sacristy. His musicality has led to a minor revolution in the way that the bells have been rung since he became the chief sacristan three years ago. Today in Europe No Quasimodo, he brings music to Notre-Dame bells Gates denies a crisis in NATO With visit to Afghanistan, Rice signals U.S. and NATO resolve Click here to find out more!

This has put him in conflict at times with the caretakers of the bells. They visit them six times a year to check the condition of the bronze; examine the electric motors, with their intricate chains, that now swing the bells; and inspect the wooden frame from which they are suspended.

The caretakers want less music, to diminish wear on the centuries-old bells. Urbain wants more, to restore the art to what it must have been when the bells were young.

[fishhound]

ping

[Rudder]

Today in Europe No Quasimodo, he brings music to Notre-Dame bells Gates denies a crisis in NATO With visit to Afghanistan, Rice signals U.S. and NATO resolve Click here to find out more!

WTF?

[fishhound]

Thanks I will ping the admin I missed a deleting all of the Today In Europe articles links...crap. Thanks

[fishhound]

Hi admin , Can you delete this line from my article post...its part of the other story links in the section...yikes and thanks

“Today in Europe No Quasimodo, he brings music to Notre-Dame bells Gates denies a crisis in NATO With visit to Afghanistan, Rice signals U.S. and NATO resolve Click here to find out more!”