THEN THE BELLS

Composed: 1991
Duration: 7 minutes
Instrumentation: Chamber orchestra - 2222; 2200; 1 perc., strings (65431)

PROGRAM NOTES

Then The Bells was inspired by the tolling of church bells in a Swiss Alpine village where I stayed after spending a week as a composer in residence at the Montanea Festival in France. The hotel was on the main square of this small village and the 15th century church was in the center of the square. This being a Saturday night, the bells rang at regular lengthy intervals both Saturday night and Sunday morning. The rhythmical relationships created by these three bells, which each rang at a different speed, was constantly changing and very intriguing. In Then The Bells, varied instrumental groups move at differing but regular speeds to simulate the ringing of bells while the sonorities include the strong overtones which occur when a bell is struck.