Big Ben, the Very Famous Clock Tower in London

by Jun Kuzuya
(Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan)

Thinking of England, I cannot help but think of London. Because when I was a child, my father was in London due to his work. So I would like to talk about London. Above all, about the very famous clock tower in London.

The clock tower is called "Big Ben." You know this structure, don't you? Big Ben is the clock tower's nickname by the House of Parliament. It was built in 1859 and the height of the tower is 96m. Now it's seen as the symbol of England by many people in the world.

And Big Ben has a bell. It rings and plays one melody every noon. I didn't know that Big Ben rings…・・；）

Do you know the melody?

This melody is called "Westminster Quarters." It is composed of four scales. In fact, this melody is a very familiar sound for Japanese! Do you know why? Because it's used as the chime for Japanese schools! Probably, I guess you know this sound.

I listened to this melody many times in my youth. But I didn't know that it really came from England! So we can say that Japanese schools are connected with England!! It's a very interesting thing, I think.

Now my dream is to be a teacher. If I become a teacher, I want to tell my students this thing!!