Rachmaninoff: The Bells & Symphonic Dances by Kirill Kondrashin
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Sergey Vasil’yevich Rachmaninov (1873-1943) The Bells, Op. 35
Words by Edgar Poe - Russian translation by Konstantin Balmont
00:00 I. The Silver Sleigh Bells: Allegro, ma non tanto
06:31 II. The Mellow Wedding Bells: Lento
16:33 III. The Loud Alarum Bells: Presto
24:12 IV. The Mournful Iron Bells: Lento lugubre

Soprano : Yelizaveta Shumskaya
Tenor : Mikhail Dovenman
Baritone : Alexei Bolshakov
State Symphony Capella of Russia
Director : Alexander Yurlov
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Kirill KONDRASHIN
Recorded in 1963, at Moscow
New mastering in 2023 by AB for CMRR
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Begun during a stay in Rome in January 1913, Les Cloches was premiered in St. Petersburg in November 1913 under the composer's direction. "All my life, I listened with pleasure to these chimes with their many different melodies and characters", Rachmaninov would later say, noting that his grandmother, a great devotee, regularly took him to listen to the bells of Novgorod's Saint Sophia Cathedral.

They have accompanied every Russian from childhood to the grave, and no composer has been able to escape their influence. All my life, I've taken pleasure in the different moods and music of the bells that ring with joy and sadness. This love of bells is inherent in every Russian... If I have succeeded in making bells vibrate with human emotion in my works, it is largely due to the fact that most of my life has been lived amidst the vibrations of Moscow's bells..." Curiously, it was an anonymous letter from a young admirer in 1913 that reconnected the composer with the sounds of his youth. This young admirer, who turned out to be Moscow Conservatory cello student Maria Danilova, sent Rachmaninov a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Bells. "In the drowsy silence of a Roman afternoon, with Poe's verses before me," Rachmaninov reports, "I heard the voices of the bells, and tried to put down on paper their beautiful tones, which seemed to express the different shades of human experience."

The initial allegro non troppo opens with a joyful chime, quickly followed by the tenor offering a simple, catchy melody, which is quickly joined by the chorus, at times with closed mouths. The ensuing lento, with its darker mood, features the soprano, first alone, then with the chorus in a highly sensual sound intoxication. The presto that follows, during which the tocsin sounds, is the most spectacular movement. Its passionate lyricism evokes an operatic scene, reminiscent of Boris Godunov or images from Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible. As for the final "lugubrious" lento, introduced by a poignant English horn solo, it gives pride of place to the baritone, who announces the final annihilation and death in a melody that is beautiful to weep and close in spirit to the Song of the Dead in Prokofiev's Alexander Newski. After such Russian weeping, hope is finally reborn for the final episode, thanks to a soothing middle section featuring a superb string melody accompanied by harps.

The premiere in St. Petersburg and, above all, the performance in Moscow in February 1914, were veritable triumphs, earning the composer the Glinka Prize. Given its enormous power of dramatic expression, it's hardly surprising that Rachmaninov considered The Bells his favorite composition.

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