A special experience for anyone walking around TWU’s Langley campus is hearing the melodic Alloway Chime sounding out from the campus bell tower.
Each year, TWU invites student composers to create arrangements and write new music for the Alloway Chime, through the Alloway Chime Award and mentorship program, funded by Heather Alloway, daughter of the TWU Library's namesake.
This year's Easter bell tower tunes feature a selection of melodies created by TWU students, including Robbie Down, James Tseung, and alumna Chloé Thiessen.
A new contemplative piece debuts
The Alloway Chime Award supports student musicians in their work and ensures that new and inspiring melodies continue ringing across campus.
Music major Robbie Down is this year’s award recipient. His composition, Return to Rest, My Soul, debuted on March 21 just prior to the 11 a.m. campus Chapel service. Robbie, who is also a Chapel musician, has been sharing Return to Rest, My Soul with his fellow musicians. Together, they have been using the composition in Chapel services as a contemplative piece, setting verses from the Psalms to the melody.
Robbie’s melody will be included in a selection of melodies that will ring out daily at noon between Maundy Thursday, April 6 and Easter Monday, April 10.
Composing for an ‘enigmatic instrument’
Robbie shares that working with the TWU Library staff to compose for the Alloway Chime has been a fascinating experience. “The chimes are a somewhat enigmatic instrument to compose for due to their elaborate tones and harmonies,” he explains. The Alloway Chime’s uniqueness encourages musicians to experiment and be creative. “Not every melody or song sounds like how you would expect,” Robbie, who is also a Canadian independent artist based in B.C., describes, “There are different methods to find what sounds best on the bells.”
Robbie decided to leverage the Alloway Chime’s cross-campus melodic reach and craft something to encourage students.
In addition to the Alloway Chime’s peculiarities, it also has a special “unifying” capacity to bring people together.
“A unique and seemingly apparent feature of this instrument is its ability to be heard all over campus: one instrument, heard by an entire community.”
Robbie decided to leverage the Alloway Chime’s cross-campus melodic reach and craft something to encourage students. “This is why my first dream to compose for the bells was to transcribe a doxology that we as a discipleship team wrote to be heard on the bells every Tuesday, beckoning us to our Devotion Chapel services.”
Devotion Chapel, which takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays, is a time of prayer and reflection. As Robbie introduces, “These services are a blossoming community of students on campus interested in deepening their faith in Christ through Christian spiritual practices.”
“When ringing a recognizable tune, the chimes on campus provide a moment of pause, listening, and possible delight to all on Trinity campus,” he continues.
'Behind-the-scenes' of making music for the bell tower chimes
As for the art of composing and playing the Alloway Chime, “It has been a joy and delight to get a glimpse into what goes into the behind-the-scenes for this prodigious instrument,” Robbie says, before adding an invitation, “Keep an ear out on Tuesdays at 10:55 a.m. for the new doxology tune, Return to Rest My Soul based on Psalm 13.”
TWU Library staff member Shawn Brouwer supervises Alloway Chime Award recipients and helps them explore the art and craft of contemporary campanology. “I’m so pleased to work with Robbie this year,” Shawn remarks, “He has been a great advocate for the chimes to students in helping them understand ways to use the ringing of the chimes as a reminder to pause, reflect or pray when hearing the six different melodies that play throughout each day.”
Celebrating Easter with the Alloway Chime
The Alloway Chime will ring out a 6-minute concert daily at noon between Maundy Thursday, April 6 and Easter Monday, April 10. The program includes a selection of melodies created by TWU students, including Return to Rest My Soul by Robbie Down, along with other meditative tunes.
Listen to Return to Rest My Soul based on Psalm 13, by Robbie Down
Return to Rest My Soul based on Psalm 13, by Robbie Down
Return to rest my soul
For the Lord is good (Psalm 116:7)
Come walk with him in joy
For His way endures (Isaiah 12:3)
How long? How long?
Be this trouble over me (Psalm 13)
Hold on, hold on
For his delivering (Psalm 119:153)
Full listing of 2023 Easter Alloway Chime concert tunes
- Return to Rest, My Soul. Composed and performed by TWU student Robbie Down, 2023
- Amazing Grace (New Britain.) 19th Century.
- Hosanna, Loud Hosanna, the little children sang (Ellacombe.) Composer unknown. Ca 18th C. Arranged and performed by TWU alumna Chloé Thiessen, 2020
- Abide with me (Eventide). William Henry Monk. (1823-1889)
- Modal change in A. Sequenced/composed and performed by TWU student James Tseung, 2022
- Finlandia, Op. 26, aka We rest on Thee Jean Sibelius (1865-1920) Arranged and performed by Danica Steenkamp
- The Holy City. Michael Maybrick alias Stephen Adams. (1841 – 1913)
- Trumpet Voluntary. Stanley. (1712-1786)
- A Murmuration (For Erica Grimm). Composed and performed by TWU alumna Chloé Thiessen, 2020
- Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, "Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate" from Nabucco. Giuseppe Verdi. (813-1901)
- Afterward. Composed and performed by James Tseung, 2022
- When I survey the wondrous cross (Rockingham). Edward Miller. (1735-1807). Arranged and performed by James Tseung, 2022
About Alloway Chime Award
By inviting skilled TWU students to have hands-on experience working with the Alloway Chime, the Alloway Chime Award, funded by Heather Alloway, aims to develop a cohort of individuals who can work with this unique musical instrument and expand its repertoire. Past recipients have created and performed arrangements of known tunes as well as their own compositions that have become part of the chime’s daily playlist.
About TWU Music program
TWU's Music program provides Christ-centred mentorship and exciting peer collaborations, along with abundant opportunities to hone your musical and leadership skills. Mentorship from professors will take your passion for music and help you develop your ability to impact culture as a performer, educator, creator, or scholar. Discover the TWU Music program.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four locations in Canada: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.