num_pages: 128
description: This great choral symphony by the last of Russia's Romantic composers was written in 1913 and is reputed to be among Rachmaninoff's favorites of all his works. Scored for a large orchestra, solo vocalists, and chorus, the work is loosely based on the brilliant poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Its addition of material from the Russian translation permits the composer to develop the themes in a more intense, dark idiom. Indeed, The Bells exhibits an emotional intensity unsurpassed in Rachmaninoff's later works. Its long, brooding finale contrasts with the liveliness of the preceding movements, and the orchestration reflects the poem's striking silver bells for birth, golden bells for marriage, brass bells for fear, and iron bells for death.
language: English
title: The Bells in Full Score
titlecomplete: The Bells in Full Score
ratings_count: 2
publisher: Dover Publications