The Westminster chime

The four-note tune heard from Big Ben and from millions of mantel and grandfather clocks started life at a university church in Cambridge.

What the Westminster chime is

The Westminster chime is the tune a clock plays on its bells or rods at each quarter hour, building up to a full version on the hour before the hour is struck. It is the sound most people think of when they picture a grandfather clock or Big Ben.

Some chime clocks offer it alongside other tunes, with a selector on the dial or the side of the case to switch between them or silence the chime.

See also: hear the Westminster and other clock chimes on OnlineClock.app.

Born in Cambridge in 1793

The tune was written for a new clock at Great St Mary's, the university church in Cambridge, and first rang there in 1793. Mental Floss reports that students nicknamed it Jowett's Jig, after the Reverend Joseph Jowett, a law professor who was given the job.

Who actually composed it is less certain. Classic FM says Jowett may have been helped by the music professor John Randall or by one of his pupils, the young composer William Crotch, and that it is not clear who wrote it. Londonist notes that the tune is sometimes credited to Crotch.

The link to Handel

The melody is said to be based on Handel's Messiah. Londonist describes the four-note theme as a variation on the fifth and sixth bars of the aria I know that my Redeemer liveth, while pointing out that the two sound quite different to the ear. Mental Floss also reports the Messiah connection.

Inside the clock tower at Westminster, a plaque carries a short prayer associated with the chime. Londonist says it was inspired by Psalm 37 and asks for guidance through each hour.

How it reached Big Ben

When the new clock tower at the Palace of Westminster was finished, the Cambridge tune was copied for its bells. Londonist dates the first Westminster chimes to 1859, and from then on the tune was known by the name of its new home.

At Big Ben, four quarter bells play the chime using four notes, which Classic FM gives as G sharp, F sharp, E and B. The great hour bell, the one properly called Big Ben, then strikes the hour. The tower itself was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012.

The chime in a home clock

In a mechanical chiming clock, the chime has its own power: a separate spring in a mantel clock, or its own weight in a grandfather clock. Instructions for Hermle weight-driven clocks give the right-hand winder to the quarter chime, the left to the hour strike and the center to the timekeeping.

If the chime plays the wrong part at the wrong time, it is out of step with the hands. Clock sellers suggest moving the minute hand forward a quarter hour at a time and letting each chime finish, and some modern movements correct themselves within a couple of hours.

See also: chiming mantel clocks for the home on OnlineClock.app.

Keep exploring

Sources

1. What tune does Big Ben chime?, Classic FM
2. Name that tune: what song do clock chimes play?, Mental Floss
3. These are the lyrics to Big Ben, Londonist
4. Instructions for weight-driven clocks, The Clock Depot
5. Troubleshooting your Howard Miller clock, Frankenmuth Clock Company

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