Bells in music

who do they toll for

The bell motif is one of the most evocative recurrent motifs in Western and Russian classical music. ‘Bell’ is itself an almost onomatopoetic word, resounding and delightful to pronounce. So are the bells in other Indo-European languages: колокол/колокольчик, la campana/campanella, die Glocke… Church bells, sleigh bells, cowbells, school bells all have an emotionally intense, often nostalgic air about them.

Here I want to go over a few pieces that come to mind when I think about bells.

In nomine a 3 by John Bull (1562—1628): I collected my favorite piano, harpsichord and organ recordings of the piece in this playlist. Slowly swinging at first, the bells gradually gain pace until their voices turn into an elaborate clockwork. This is especially vivid in a harpshichord recording by Zuzana Růžičková. I also love this textured piano recordinig by Anton Batagov.

Rachmaninov’s choral symphony The Bells is set to a free Russian translation (by the Silver Age poet Konstantin Balmont) of the eponymous poem by Edgar Poe. The four movements follow the four sections of the poem, from silver jingle bells to golden wedding bells to copper alarm bells to iron funeral bells. Joy, Love, Terror, Death. Dies Irae, the motif from the Latin requiem that haunted Rachmaninov his whole life, makes an appearance here, as it does in many of his major compositions (Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Third Piano Concerto, Symphonic Dances).

Shostakovich’s fugue no. 7 in A major, from op. 87, ‘24 Preludes and Fugues’, is an unusually mirthful and light-hearted (for Shostakovich) piece which prompted me to write this post. The bells in this piece are church bells, I think — harbingers of good news, perhaps an allusion to Easter. Here’s Igor Levit’s recording and Tatiana Nikolayeva’s recording of the fugue together with the prelude. Levit recorded all 24 preludes and fugues for his 2021 album On DSCH.

Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata Reminiscenza opens with a sweet bell-like motif. This piece evokes northern fairy tales in my mind. It is from the cycle “Vergessene Weisen” — Forgotten Melodies. Medtner’s fairy tales are some of the best of the late Romanticism that was still alive in the early 20th century (he was also a good friend and a favorite contemporary composer of Rachmaninov’s).    

Tchaikovsky’s Dumka (“Contemplation”) brings Moscow winters to my mind. Bells — here sleigh bells — make an unmistakable, heartstopping appearance in the middle of the piece. Some excellent recordings are by Arsenii Moon (2019), Vladimir  Horowitz (1942), Nikolai Kuznetsov (2023) (unrushed, much slower than the rest and very heartfelt), and Mikhail Pletnev.

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…Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

John Donne