On 11 November 2024, the Integrated Database for Early Music (IDEM) will be extended with a new set of precious sources: a corpus of music manuscripts from Antwerp, Leuven, Brussels, Paris, Asten, Saint-Omer, and Delft representing the carillon culture before 1800. Documents containing carillon music of the Ancien Régime are particularly rare and therefore very valuable. They provide clues about the performance practice in several cities, where the bells were played by hand or by an automated mechanism. This present publication is the first part of this project on carillon music from the Low Countries; two further publication dates are scheduled for 2025.

To mark the launch of the IDEM carillon project, the Alamire Foundation is organizing a special concert on 11 November at 2:00 pm in the refectory of Park Abbey. Carillon music from the IDEM sources will be played on the abbey’s Peace Carillon by carillonneurs Henk Verhoef, Carl Van Eyndhoven, and titular carillonneur Luc Rombouts. The heart of the concert will be the interaction between Carl Van Eyndhoven and the vocal ensemble Utopia, which will sing in the restored refectory of the abbey. Book your seat now; Tickets for this unique concert are limited!