Gurzenich Orch Koln - Sergej Rachmaninow: Die Glocken, Op. 35, Sergej Taneev: Johannes Damascenus, Op. 1

Inspired by the American poet Edgar Allan Poe (1809�1849), the symphonic poem The Bells was written in 1913. Its four parts describe different features of bell ringing: children�s sleigh bells in the first section, the wedding bells of a young couple in the second, alarm bells for a misfortune in the third, and mourning bells in the fourth. Rachmaninov uses the text version by Konstantin Balmont (1867�1943), who freely rewrote Edgar Allan Poe's original. Rachmaninov adeptly avoided the direct emulation of bell sounds through carillons and similar percussion instruments.