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The Bells, Rachmaninov
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Winter music: the best pieces inspired by the coldest season
11. The Bells, Rachmaninov
‘Hear the sledges with the bells – Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells’. Rachmaninov’s choral symphony The Bells uses a translation of the eponymous Edgar Allan Poe poem from which these lines come. The piece makes much use of the Gregorian Dies Irae melody and also includes a part – of course – for tubular bells.
