Let Robert Gift ring your chimes at the Denver City and County Building

It's been carilloneur Robert Gift's thankless task each Christmas for the last thirty years or so to whip the City and County Building's recalcitrant Robert Speer Memorial Chime into shape: Comprised of ten mannerless and hopelessly untuned bronze bells, the instrument -- if you can call it that -- has,...

By Susan Froyd

December 22, 2011

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It's been carilloneur Robert Gift's thankless task each Christmas for the last thirty years or so to whip the City and County Building's recalcitrant Robert Speer Memorial Chime into shape: Comprised of ten mannerless and hopelessly untuned bronze bells, the instrument -- if you can call it that -- has, let us say, some quirks. Yet Gift will do his damnedest to sculpt holiday tunes on request for a few brisk hours in the belfry both tomorrow night and on Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately, he notes, not long after the requests come in, the complaints follow. To which he replies: "One does not play bells. One inflicts them."

Gift will play starting at 7:30 p.m. both nights at the City and County Building; to make a request, call 720-870-BELL (2355). And a happy holiday to you.

To keep up with the Froyd's-eye-view of arts and culture in Denver, "like" my fan page on Facebook.

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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