Line #42 Main/WestminsterChimes


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_ben_1858.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Ding Dong Dang Dong!]]
3
4	-> ''"All through this hour''
5	-> ''Lord, be my guide''
6	-> ''that by Thy power''
7	-> ''no foot shall slide."''
8	-->The '''ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics''' to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9wWBjnaEck the famous melody]].[[note]]as [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/bong-a-change-of-tune-at-westminster-481163.html transcribed on a plaque in the clockwork room of Elizabeth Tower, the Palace of Westminster]], which famously was featured in an episode of ''Series/RosieAndJim''[[/note]]
9
10	The most common tune played by clock chimes, in both in RealLife and fiction, is the one known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Quarters Westminster Quarters]] [[note]]That is, unless you are a hardcore bell enthusiast, in which case you are quite likely to insist they are actually the ''Cambridge'' quarters. Funnily enough, although the tunes are most famously associated with what is now called the Elizabeth Tower in the Westminster Palace, they were not devised for the bells there, but for the bells of the Great St Mary's church in the university city of Cambridge roughly a century before the present bell tower in Westminster was built [[/note]]. The tune is constructed from five different sequences combining four pitches. Not all five are played at once: even at the full hour, only the last four are used, followed by between one and [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve twelve]] strokes on a deeper bell. The most popular of these sequences would seem to be the fourth (mi, do, re, so) and fifth (so, re, mi, do). (These are also played at third quarter, followed by the first.) Therefore, the most commonly heard in fiction are the fourth and fifth sequences, or the fourth alone, often repeated for effect in either case.
11
12	Japanese school bells often sound like this, to the point where it's a {{stock sound effect\|s}} in high school anime.
13
14	A somewhat common variant is to use only the fourth sequence, but with the first note raised a half step so that the first two notes make a falling fourth rather than a falling major third. In this augmented variation, the tonic is usually transposed to the first note from the second (i.e. do, sol, la, re rather than fa, do, re, sol).
15
16	Though it is a RegionalRiff to establish you're in the U.K., if it is used in any work set in 2017-2020 (except Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Day) then [[RealityIsUnrealistic its use is inaccurate]] -- Big Ben was "turned off" for these years.
17
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime]]
24	* Used in one of the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' movies as part of an EstablishingShot for a school.
25	* Also used in ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' for the same purpose, usually with the Sun or other wacky character singing "KIN KON KAN KON" out loud in the foreground.
26	* Used in the anime adaptation of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''.
27	* The September chapter of ''Anime/TheGardenOfWords'' starts with a scene at school where the Big Ben sound can be heard in the background.
28	* The special DancingTheme credits for episode 3 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' open with this due to the scene taking place in the Student Council room.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Audio Books]]
32	* In a Czech dramatization of ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'', Westmister Chimes are used to indicate that Marianne, Elinor and Mrs Jennings arrived in London.
33	* In the Creator/PatrickStewart narrated version of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', the chimes are used to indicate each quarter hour between midnight and one AM as Scrooge waited for the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past. The original book only uses "ding dong" for this purpose, but perhaps something more interesting was desired for an audio-only presentation.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Eastern Animation]]
37	* In 1968's ''Animation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1968}}'', the town clock heard in Copenhagen at the beginning rings like this.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Film]]
41	* Incorporated in the score for ''Film/MaryPoppins'', during the rooftop scene, between orchestral reprises of "Spoonful of Sugar" and "Feed the Birds".
42	* Can be heard in ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' during Blackwood's NewEraSpeech at the Parliament.
43	* The doorbell at the home of the eponymous Laura in ''Film/{{Laura}}''.
44	* In ''Film/TheGhostAndMrChicken'', when Luther Heggs is spending the night in the haunted house, these bells can be heard in the distance just before the famous scene with the self-playing organ and the bleeding portrait.
45	* The chimes are heard as the Beatles enter the Sea Of Time in ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''.
46	* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', when Marty travels back in time to 1955, the Hill Valley clock tower plays these at one point.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Literature]]
50	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Literature/ReaperMan'', a demon-powered pocketwatch announces the half-hour by saying "Bing bing bong bing. Bingely-bingely bong bing bing". This trope is so familiar that even in print you can tell it's ''meant'' to be Westminster Quarters.
51	* Literature/CiaphasCain makes a reference to the ancient tune in ''The Emperor's Finest'', saying of a techpriest that the universe not only ran like clockwork for him, but chimed the first few bars of 'Throne Eternal' on the hour. The words fit the best-known Chimes sequence quite well.
52	* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', as Scrooge is awaiting the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past at one o'clock a.m.:
53	-->The quarter was so long, that he was more than once convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously, and missed the clock. At length it broke upon his listening ear.\
54	“Ding, dong!”\
55	“A quarter past,” said Scrooge, counting.\
56	“Ding, dong!”\
57	“Half-past!” said Scrooge.\
58	“Ding, dong!”\
59	“A quarter to it,” said Scrooge.\
60	“Ding, dong!”\
61	“The hour itself,” said Scrooge, triumphantly, “and nothing else!”\
62	He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy One.[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
65	* ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' had a doorbell that made this sound. Naturally, whenever someone rang the doorbell, they had no idea where the sound was coming from and attempted to search for the song's source. Their search was always then interrupted by someone knocking on the door.
66	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "The Empty Child"]], Captain Jack Harkness uses a gadget to make Big Ben ring when he shows Rose that he's parked his invisible spaceship right by the clocktower.
67	* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'': The doorbell of Ray and Debra's annoying rivals, the Parkers.
68	* ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'': The doorbell of the Buckets, probably at the insistence of Hyacinth (who insists the name [[PretentiousPronunciation is pronounced "Bouquet"]]). Whenever people ring the doorbell, they give a look evincing the thought, "dear God, even her ''doorbell'' is pretentious!"
69	* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'': The doorbell of Doug and Carrie's annoying neighbors, the Sackskys.
70	* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'': The chimes are a key plot point in "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE2TheChimesOfBigBen The Chimes of Big Ben]]". They help Number Six [[spoiler:realise he hasn't escaped to London, and remains a captive in The Village.]]
71	* ''Series/RosieAndJim'': In the episode "Big Ben", when the duo enter the mechanism of Big Ben, the plaque featuring the lyrics of the chimes is visible.
72	* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong... wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong."]]
73	* The ThemeSong to ''Series/YesMinister'' was based on this motif (after all the original is attached to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster).
74	* ''Series/PanelQuizAttack25'': The chimes sound to signal time running out to end the game.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Music]]
78	* The intro to "Let 'Em In" by Music/{{Wings}}.
79	* [[Music/PaulMcCartney Paul]] wasn't the only ex-[[Music/TheBeatles Beatle]] to work these into one of his solo songs. They also feature quite prominently as a RecurringRiff in Music/GeorgeHarrison's "Ding Dong, Ding Dong."
80	* Played on the harp in the first and last movements of Symphony No.2, ''A London Symphony'', by Ralph Vaughan Williams, as a way of establishing the London-inspired atmosphere of the symphony and then bringing it full circle.
81	* The Fugue in A Major from "The Short-Tempered Clavier" by Music/PDQBach uses this complete with [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve twelve o'clock chime]].
82	* The opening to [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]] Ohio State University Marching Band's rendition of the school's alma mater, ''Carmen Ohio'', has the trumpet sections mimicking the bells (which play on campus every fifteen minutes at the Orton Hall belltower).
83	* The jazz standard "If I Were a Bell" starts out with a jazzy version of the chimes.
84	* Jeff Beck quotes this in Music/TheYardbirds song "Jeff's Boogie".
85	* Appears at the beginning of {{Music/IU}}'s "Graduation Day". The song is about graduating from middle school.
86	* The opening riff of X's "Los Angeles" is meant as a variation on this - it's done at a fast enough tempo that you might not catch the intentional similarity at first.
87	* The intro of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling's "The Chimes Of Big Ben". Which makes sense because the song is inspired by the ''[[Series/ThePrisoner1967 Prisoner]]'' episode of the same name.
88	* Supertramp uses the chimes during the one of the collage sections in "Fool's Overture".
89	* Music/PatrickWolf's ''London'' incorporates the last two measures, played on a piano.
90	* "Clock Strikes Ten" by Cheap Trick features Rick Nielsen playing the WC with harmonics.
91	* French organist and composer Louis Vierne wrote one of his most frequently performed works, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O6HOAEt0zQ "Carillon de Westminster"]] (the closer of the third of his four ''Pièces de fantaisie'' suites), around the full set of chimes (although, whether accidentally or deliberately, he changed a few notes in some appearances of the half-hour chime sequence).
92	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7w6a-siKs=1m32s Setia Band's "Stasiun Cinta"]] plays the chimes twice after the first chorus.
93	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wZD9n7InB4=2m04s Heyho's "Stasiun Tua"]] plays the chimes after singing "Di Stasiun Tua" in the first chorus.
94	* Plays at the intro of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l4gYO1ICOA "Playin' My Atari"]] by Bloated Monkey.
95	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E0gVzQxKKw Westminster section]] of Eric Coates' ''London Suite'' is of course based around them. It opens with them played slowly on strings, so it takes a moment to realise that's what they are.
96	* French singer Renaud used an electronic version of the first eight notes to open and conclude his song "Miss Maggie", which is a big TakeThat aimed at UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher.
97	* Sung toward the end of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9blxLXSQ7Es Half Past Midnight]]" by '60s Canadian group The Staccatos.
98	* In the BBC Radio 2 Piano Room live version of "Tom's Diner" by Music/SuzanneVega, the BBC Concert Orchestra plays Westminster Chimes after she sings "As I'm listening/To the bells/Of the cathedral".
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Pinball]]
102	* Plays in ''Pinball/FunHouse1990'' when the clock is advanced to 11:30, signifying that balls are ready to be locked for multiball.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Radio]]
106	* Creator/TheBBC uses a recording of Big Ben striking to signal the beginning of some news reports on some stations. It's used to signal the 4 p.m. and midnight news services on Radio 4 (and also the 10 p.m. news on Sundays) and on the World Service. The World Service bit includes both the English-language World Service and many BBC foreign-language services (e.g. the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTaJ6Hf30uw BBC Arabic Service]]).
107	* Every episode of ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'' opens with the chime, [[EiffelTowerEffect establishing the series' setting as London]].
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Theatre]]
111	* "Tender Shepherd" in the musical ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan\|1954}}'', though the low "sol" is often avoided by the singers.
112	* Played as a brass fanfare at the beginning of "God, That's Good" from ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Video Games]]
116	* ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'': This forms the basis for the background music of Twinkle Elementary.
117	* ''VideoGame/HamtaroHamHamsUnite'': This forms the basis for the background music of Sunflower Elementary.
118	* Used as the background music for the pinball stage in ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}} Da!''
119	* It appears briefly at the beginning of the ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' stage in ''Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius''. And by extension, it's a staple of the ''Tokimeki Memorial'' series, being {{Creator/Konami}}'s Japanese HighSchool RomanceGame series.
120	* ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'':
121	** The fourth segment is used at the beginning of the Clefairy pointing minigame in the first game.
122	** ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium 2'' uses it for battles in Earl's Academy -- the chimes play, then it segues into an arrangement of the Pokemon Center theme.
123	* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' plays the fourth segment at the end of every school day in-game, naturally it's a Japanese school you're at.
124	* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' uses this as a puzzle -- you have to play it on a piano that has its keys rearranged.
125	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoClassic'': Used as menu music in ''Grand Theft Auto: London 1969''.
126	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': Parodied when an Ork says the word "Orkz" in this fashion.
127	* ''VideoGame/{{Thwaite}}'': Heard after each wave to signify that an hour has passed between waves.
128	* ''VideoGame/{{Kangaroo}}'' plays the Big Ben chimes when you ring the bell. (This replenishes the fruits.)
129	* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': Used when you make it to 6 AM. ''Yaaaaaaay!''
130	* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': Similarly to how the chime plays at the end of a school day in Japan, the sunset in the games is marked with the Westminster chimes. The fourth note is higher than normal, however.
131	* ''VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza'': In ''Battleground Z'', the pencil's charged attack, Cram Session, cuts to a classroom in which the player character is trying to teach simple arithmetic to every zombie that was on screen when the attack was used, only to zap them with a BoltOfDivineRetribution when they just sit there looking dazed. The soundtrack for the scene is the Westminster chimes.
132	* ''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'': The Keyboard toy in ''Nintendogs + Cats'' has a button that will play this tune.
133	* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' has the Westminster melody play before Monokuma's morning and nighttime announcements. If the horror factor of the series is removed, they actually play before every announcement by the staff members in Hope's Peak Academy.
134	* The first part of the chime plays during the opening of ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime'', when a newly-awakened Clank attempts to escape Dr. Nefarious within the Great Clock. The second part is interrupted by Nefarious goading Clank to jump.
135	* The clocktower in ''VideoGame/LegoLoco'' sometimes plays the Westminster Chimes.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Web Original]]
139	* The ''Website/{{WrestleCrap}} Radio'' podcast briefly featured a device called the Clocktrolla (meant to count down the days until [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-wm.html WWE Women's Champion]] Wrestling/CandiceMichelle eclipsed The Fabulous Moolah's twenty-eight-year reign as champion); upon activation, the Clocktrolla played a terrible rendition of the tune, performed on steam whistles.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Western Animation]]
143	* Used for Rarity's doorbell in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.
144	* The first three ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts to use the stylized title sequences from the 1960's have the chimes play over the end titles as the shapes forming the abstract "WB" appear one by one.
145	* ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'': Big Ben is heard at the beginning of each episode. The narrator recaps what happened previously and how is Mr Fog's doing as he speaks over the chimes. Viewers are then shown what happens in London in the Reform Club as the gentlemen who bet against Mr Fog and Mr Fog's avid supporters compare their information and talk about Mr Fog's journey.
146	* ''WesternAnimation/OrsonAndOlivia'': The theme tune starts with the Westminster chimes, complete with the establishing shot of the Westminster tower. The chimes are also heard at the beginning of the first episode with shots of London and its roof. Used as Regional Riff because the story is set in VictorianLondon.
147	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'': In "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner," the Westminster Chimes play when Fred rings the doorbell to Moody Manor.
148	* Heard very faintly near the beginning of ''{{WesternAnimation/Pinocchio}}'' when Geppetto's cuckoo clocks all go off.
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Real Life]]
152	* The TropeNamer and TropeCodifier is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKOhOzQyZg Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster]].
153	* The tune really originated from Great St. Mary's church in Cambridge, England, [[http://www.gsm.cam.ac.uk/great-st-marys/bells/ and was known as the "Cambridge" chimes before it was used in "Big Ben".]]
154	* Brownies (the UK equivalent of Girl Scouts[[note]]Although in the Girl Scouts of America, "Brownies" are second level scouts (after "Daisies"), similar to the Cub Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America.[[/note]]) often used to end meetings with a song to this tune: "Oh Lord our God/ Thy children call/ Grant us thy peace/ And bless us all." Nowadays, because of the reference to God, another song is often used instead.
155	* At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Charlotte Dujardin won Britain's first individual dressage gold in decades, with a routine that matched the chimes to the strides in a [[http://theequestriannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Olympic-dressage_DuJardinC_5x4.jpg canter pirouette]].
156	%%* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City_and_County_Building City and County Building]] in Salt Lake City.
157	* In Indonesia, train stations play this sound as a sign of train departure and arrival. Upon arrival of a train, the chimes will be looped continuously until it departs from the station. Indonesians mostly refers to the chimes as bel kereta, which means "train bells".
158	** The first four notes of the same sound can also be heard in various Cinema XXI and CGV Cinemas outlets to warn movie viewers of one of two occurrences: The first is when one of the theater's doors has opened therefore inviting the viewers to get inside the theater, and the second being when a film in one of the theaters has started playing, encouraging viewers to get inside as soon as possible to watch it. Here is the transcript of the two possible announcements, with the translation:
159	--->''"Pintu Teater [X] telah dibuka. Bagi para penonton yang telah memiliki karcis, dipersilahkan memasuki ruangan teater. Mohon perhatian Anda. Pintu Teater [X] telah dibuka. Bagi para penonton yang telah memiliki karcis, dipersilahkan untuk memasuki ruangan teater."'' (Theater Door [insert number here] has opened. To all viewers possessing tickets, please enter the theater. May I have your attention, please? Theater Door [insert number here] has opened. To all viewers possessing tickets, you may please enter the theater.)\
160	''"Mohon perhatian Anda. Pertunjukan film di Teater [X] telah dimulai. Harap Anda segera memasuki ruangan teater. Kepada para penonton yang telah memiliki karcis Teater [X], tetapi masih berada di luar ruangan teater, kami persilahkan untuk segera masuk karena pertunjukan film telah dimulai."'' (May I have your attention, please? The film shown in Theater [insert number here] has started. We hope that you enter the theater soon. To all viewers possessing a Theater [insert number here] ticket, but are still outside the theater, we invite you to get inside soon because the film has started showing.)
161	* The New York Yankees play this when one of their players scores a run (home games only).
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	!!Examples of the augmented variation:
165
166	[[folder:Theatre]]
167	* Begins each iteration of "Poor Professor Higgins" in ''Theatre/MyFairLady''.
168	* The play-out of "If I Were A Bell" from ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls''.
169	* The final cadence of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" in ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}''.
170	[[/folder]]
171

Context Main / WestminsterChimes