35 Years and Counting

(F. Wayne Tunison Retrospective)

 
 
 

Special thanks to:

 

       

 

  

 

Knox-Metropolitan United Church

 

Regina Bell Ringers

President:                     Debra Burnett

Vice-President:             Ed Rodger

Secretary/Treasurer:     Carol Benesh

 

www.reg.trlabs.ca/bells/index.htm

 

For Tower Bell Tours or

Apprenticeship Information

Contact the Knox-Metropolitan at 525-9128

 

Water Chime Project 2005

 

 
 
 
 
Thirty-five Years of Bell Ringing

            Wayne began his apprenticeship on the bells at the Knox-Metropolitan Church in the mid-sixties.  At that time bell ringing was dominated by such young men as Lee Zwall, Malcolm Mackenzie and Neil Thompson, who were enthralled by technology.  After achieving full bell-ringer status in September 1967, Wayne became enchanted by the multicultural legacy of F. N. Darke, who had originally donated the bells as a gift to all the citizens of Regina.

            This retrospective is presented in five sections as a reflection upon Wayne’s musical inheritance and as a part of the contribution he hopes to make to this legacy.

 

I.                   Teachers

            Many teachers and colleagues have helped to shape Wayne’s music.  Six of these are represented in this section.  First is Ernest A. Moore whose organ renditions of Protestant children’s music first attracted Wayne to the music of the church.  Second is Lawrence Ritchey, whose insistence on a regular clock-like performance style permeates Wayne’s artistic expression to this day.  Third is Arthur Rivett, who became music master at Knox-Metropolitan following Lawrence Ritchey and who encouraged Wayne to try his hand at musical composition.  Fourth is Tudor Davies, who introduced Wayne to European classical and folk music.  Fifth is David Johnson whose desire to accomplish something significant inspired Wayne to reach out to the world’s bell-ringing fraternity and to seek collaboration with artists of other media as well.  Last are three music professors of the University of Regina (Dr. H. Bruce Lobaugh, Dr. Thomas Schudel and William Moore) who taught Wayne the history and theory of music. 

 

1.       Meditation For Organ                               Ernest A Moore (1899-1975)

2.       Lanigan                                                      Lawrence Ritchey (b. 1939)

3.       Doubté                                                    F. Wayne Tunison (b. 1953)

4.       Air For the Holsworthy Church Bells                                                                                                       Samuel Sebastion Wesley (1810-1876)

5.       Let’s Have a Peal for John Cooke’s Soul 

                                                             Thomas Ravenscroft (1590-1633)

6.       Excerpt from Celebration Suite                     Thomas Schudel (b. 1937)

 

 

 

V.                 Original  Compositions

 

            It is a long-standing tradition that a set of clock chimes are written for the graduation of a bellringer.  This tradition encourages our bellringers to go beyond simply transcribing the music of others and to write original compositions.  Composers from around Saskatchewan and the world have submitted music to the Regina Bell Ringers.  Larry Peterson, one of our bellringers, has become a de facto composer-in-residence by virtue of his prolific and highly accessible output.  This final section of the concert gives a small sample of the music written for the Darke Memorial Chimes by Wayne and others.

 

1.       Prairie Scene                                                                 Mary I Ward

2.       Invocation                                                                         Diedre Key

3.       Plain Hunt Doubles Counting                     F. Wayne Tunison (b. 1953)

4.       Hadleigh                                                                  Clifford Crawley

5.       St. Hugh                                                                          George Tull

6.       Rue des Carillons                                        Roseanne Glass (b. 1954)

7.       Ground Zero Morning                            Larry John Peterson (b. 1952)

8.       Manna from Heaven                                               Ellen Jane Lorenz

9.       Teenage Mothers                                            Craig Pollock (b. 1957)

10.   Mr. Blister Savours His Revenge           Larry John Peterson (b. 1952)

11.   Meditation for Bells                                  Stewart Wilkinson (b. 1944)

12.   Savage Wales                                          F. Wayne Tunison (b. 1953)

13.   Theme And Variations On The Amen From The Exultant Of  Holy Saturday                                                                            Les Young

14.   In Quietness & Confidence                                             Jana Scareky

15.   Amen for an Emergency Call Number        F. Wayne Tunison (b. 1953)

Bell Cave, Australia

IV.  Popular Culture

 

            In 1980, the Sunday after the assassination of John Lennon, his mourners held a vigil in Victoria Park.  As an expression of the grief the bellringers shared with the mourners we played Beatles Songs prior to the vigil.  This is but one example of the close connections the bellringers have with the general population.  A few request favorite tunes and urge us to continue to add more of these songs to our repertoire.

 

1.       The Saskatchewan Girl’s Lament                        Traditional Canadian

2.       The Piney Wood Hills                             Buffy Sainte-Marie (b. 1941)

3.       Ring of Fire                                           June Carter Cash (1929-2003)

4.       Turn Around                                       Malvina Reynolds (1900-1978)

5.       Mack the Knife                                              Kurt Weill (1900-1950)

6.       Bird on the Wire                                          Leonard Cohen (b. 1934)

7.       I’ve Got No Strings                                                Leigh Harline (1907-1969)

8.       Song Of The Sun (Ozymandias)                                                                                       Grace Slick (b. 1939) and Paul Kantner (b. 1941)

9.       Capitol Air                                               Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997)

10.   Rain              John Lennon (1940-1980) and Paul McCartney (b. 1942)

11.   Air                                                            Galt MacDermot (b. 1928)

12.   Frank Zappa Medley                                   Frank Zappa (1941-1993)

13.   Your Cheatin Heart                                              Hank Williams (1923-1953)

14.   Lady Jane            Mick Jaggers (b. 1943) and Keith Richards (b. 1943)

 

Steve Chamberlain and Wayne at Lakeview United Church, demonstrating the handbells.

 

 

 

Wayne and Julian Swales playing handbells

 

II.                Repertoire

            When Wayne graduated as a full bell-ringer the tower had a repertoire of fewer than 200 songs, primarily Protestant hymns from the past 250 years.  This section presents a sample of the vastly increased repertoire developed over the past thirty years under Wayne’s direction.

 

1.       Morning Bells I Love To Hear                                                                                     Traditional arranged by F. Wayne Tunison (b. 1953)

2.       Hymn Of The Octoechos                                    Traditional Byzantine

3.       Conditor Alme Siderum (9th Century)                    Traditional Christian

4.       Ja Nuns Hons Pris                    Richard 1st Coeur de Leon (1157-1199)

5.       Song 5                                                  Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

6.       Stuttgart                                                Christian F. Witt (1660-1716)

7.       The Merry Bells of Hamburg Town

          Alfred Moffat (1866-1950) arranged by F. Wayne Tunison (b. 1953)

8.       St. Basil                                                    Healey Willan (1880-1968)

9.       Minuet                                          Jean Phillippe Rameau (1683-1764)

10.   Allegretto Minuet for Musical Clock  Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

11.   Kyrie Eleison From Mozart's 12th Mass                                                                                        Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

12.   St. Gertrude                              Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900)

13.   Piano Concerto No. 1 (Theme)     Peter Ilyich Chaikowsky (1840-1893)

 

Wayne in Vienna

 

III.             Multicultural Heritage  

 

            Francis N. Darke gave the Darke Memorial Chimes to the City of Regina to be used in worship and celebrations of all kinds.  Knox-Metropolitan Church, the custodian of the bells, has kept its doors open to share this treasure with all Regina citizens.  Just as Regina has evolved into an increasingly multicultural community, so has Wayne energetically pursued the participation of its many ethnic groups with the bells.  This section showcases some of the music of these cultures.

 

James Knox and Wayne in the ringing room of the Darke Memorial Chimes

 

 

Wayne playing in Nelson, New Zealand

 

III.  Multicultural Heritage 

 

1.       Angakok’s Magic Song                                       Traditional Canadian

2.       De Bua Enn De Predja                                      Traditional Mennonite

3.       Druimfhionn Donn Dilis                                             Traditional Irish

4.       Hephbin Bopoh                                                Traditional Doukhobor

5.       Kas Dziedaja

6.       Le Jardin de Mon Pere                                           Traditional French

7.       Nata Bihaga                                                            Traditional Indian

8.       Negi Rustas Augau (You Can't Say I Grew Up Gloomy)                                                                                          Traditional Lithuanian

9.       Rutuburi Dance #1                           Traditional Mexican (circa 1890)

10.   Weisse                                                                 Traditional German

11.  We’ll Rant and We’ll Roar                                   Traditional Canadian

12.  Yuki Masturi                                                           Traditional Shinto

 

 

 

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Revised: June 23, 2006