A chime is a mechanical device used to play bells. The famous Kremlin chimes are installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the capital. A certain melodic sequence of the striking of the main clock of the state depends on the mood of the bells that make up the mechanism. Together with the chimes, Russia measures the course of its history.
The first clock on the Spasskaya Tower
Confirmation of the presence of the Kremlin clock can be found in the documents of 1585, but, presumably, they appeared earlier: immediately after the completion of the construction of the Spasskaya Tower.
Probably, the timing was different: then in Russia the day was divided into "day" and "night" time periods. Consequently, the duration of the hourly intervals changed after two weeks. The watchmakers who were in the position reconfigured the mechanism according to specially issued tables on the length of the day and night, and repaired it in case of breakdown.
They were especially attentive to the main tower clock. But often the resulting fires put the mechanism out of action, and a severe fire that happened in 1624 turned the clock into scrap. Russian blacksmiths-watchmakers from the Zhdan family made new watches of impressive size. The work was supervised by a watch mechanic, the Englishman Christopher Galovey, and the Russian master Kirill Samoilov cast thirteen bells for this device. On the high hipped top, erected under the direction of the architect Bazhen Ogurtsov, bells were hung for the chimes, the chime of which could be heard ten miles away. The accuracy of the movement of the mechanism invented by Galovey directly depended on the people serving it.
The clocks that appeared became the first Russian chimes: according to the old Russian countdown of time intervals, they emitted a specially tuned melodic ringing. The Spassky chimes, created by Galovey, were restored several times after the next fires, but they served for quite a long time.
Changing the countdown
A single countdown of time by day was established in Russia at the direction of Peter I. With this tsar, the English mechanism of the main clock was replaced by a Dutch one, which has a twelve-hour dial. New tower chimes were installed under the guidance of the Russian watchmaker Yekim Garnov. The watch device borrowed from the Dutch, serviced by foreigners, which caused "assembly dances" and "fire alarm", constantly broke. The strongest fire in 1737 destroyed the wooden structures of the tower, damaged the chimes installed under Peter. The bell music died down. Spassky watches were of little interest, they were served carelessly when the capital was moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
The chimes on the Kremlin tower aroused the interest of Empress Catherine II, who came to the Russian throne. The tower clock, which had fallen into complete disrepair, was replaced by a large English one by her order. For three years the German Fatz and the Russian master Ivan Polyansky were engaged in editing. Due to the indifferent attitude of the authorities since 1770, for a year over Red Square, someone else's melody about “dear Augustine” was played, which was liked by the German watchmaker.
Residents of Moscow were able to save the Spasskaya Tower from destruction during the war with Napoleon, but the chimes fell silent. The group of watchmakers, led by Yakov Lebedev, restored the main clock three years later, and then worked without interruption for many years.
The Danish brothers Butenopes, together with the architect Konstantin Ton, examined the chimes in the middle of the nineteenth century. Their condition was close to critical. Fixing all the problems was entrusted to Russian watchmakers. The old parts served as the basis for the manufacture of new Kremlin watches. But skilled watchmakers carried out a huge laborious work, including the replacement of many mechanisms with the selection of alloys that withstand humidity and sudden changes in temperature. The masters paid special attention to the appearance of the new watch, completely changed the musical unit of the clock mechanism. Added bells (now there are 48 of them) - the chime has become more melodic and accurate.
Russian Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich ordered to dial on the chimes the melodies of D. Bortnyansky's anthem "If our Lord is glorious in Zion" and the march of the Preobrazhensky regiment that existed under Peter I. With a break of three hours over the main square of Moscow until 1917, these melodies sounded.
Soviet and modern life of chimes
Artillery shelling during the storming of the Kremlin during the October Revolution seriously damaged the Spassky Clock. They stopped their course for almost a year. They began to recover in 1918 at the direction of Lenin. Locksmith N. Behrens and his sons were able to quickly repair the state machinery that had become important. And the musical device was tuned by the musician M. Cheremnykh, he installed revolutionary melodies for playback. The morning over the Red Square of the capital every day began with the "Internationale".
Under I. Stalin, the dial at the Spassky chimes changed, the sound of the funeral march was canceled. But due to the deterioration of the mechanism, the musical device was stopped in 1938 - the chimes struck only quarters and hours.
The chimes, which had been silent for more than half a century, sounded again in 1996, thanks to enormous research work, the manufacture of new bells. From the height of the main Kremlin tower, the melodies "Glory" and the official anthem of Russia until 2000, "Patriotic Song" by M. Glinka, poured out.
In 1999, the historical appearance of the upper hip tiers of the Spasskaya Tower was restored, many works and control over the movement of the clock mechanism were improved. And with the striking of the Kremlin chimes, the anthem of our state sounded.
The clock on the Spasskaya Tower is now a huge complex device. Hammer blows, acting on the mechanisms of the bells, make the clock strike. The melodies of the anthem of Russia and the chorus from the opera by M. Glinka "Glory" are sung by the bells on the high Kremlin belfry under the influence of a drum that makes other mechanisms work as well.
