Beckering Family Carillon joins international Christmas Eve concert

On Christmas Eve, Grand Valley State University’s Beckering Family Carillon Tower will join an international chorus of carillon bells to commemorate a Christmas truce between German and allied soldiers 100 years ago during World War I.

The concert at the Lacks International Plaza on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus will take place at approximately 9:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available at the DeVos and Watson parking lots.

The Peace Carillon at Messines in Belgium will play at 7:14 p.m. GMT+1 hour on Christmas Eve, the approximated time of the Christmas Truce of 1914. The Peace Carillon will begin with “Silent Night – Stille Nacht,” a Christmas carol sung simultaneously in three languages during the 1914 Christmas Truce. Carillonneurs from Belgium, France, Ireland, Japan and the United States, including Grand Valley, will then perform their own renditions of “Silent Night.”

Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, Grand Valley university carillonneur, said joining the international chorus will make for a unique and memorable experience.

“Playing the carillon is generally a solitary enterprise and on the 24th, the city is very quiet while the bell sounds fill the air,” Vanden Wyngaard said. “To know for certain that bells around the world will be sharing air space with the Beckering Family Carillon on that night will make it less solitary for me and perhaps more memorable for everyone.”

On December 7, 1914 during World War I, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas soldiers along the Western Front declared their own unofficial truce.

Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops emerged from the trenches to sing Christmas carols across the lines. On Christmas morning, the soldiers met to hold joint religious services and helped to bury each other’s dead. The ceremonies were followed by a day of remembrance and celebrations.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare.

For more information, call the Grand Valley Music and Dance Department at (616) 331-3484.