Ring Out the Year!

The holidays often proclaim the news via bells. Classical piano composers often use the piano to mimic church bells, chimes, or even the rhythmic tolls of alarm bells for dramatic effect, as noted in these famous works.

• Liszt's "La Campanella" (from Grandes études de Paganini) is a virtuosic showpiece famed for its bell-like, high-pitched passages.
• Debussy’s "Cloches à travers les feuilles" (from Images, Book II)) paints an impressionistic soundscape that suggests distant bells.
• Ravel’s  "La vallée des cloches" (from Miroirs) is a shimmering, evocative piece capturing the sound of bells echoing in a valley.) musically paints an impressionistic soundscape that suggests distant bells.
• Alkan’s "Carillon" (from Trois pièces dans le genre pathétique) imitates the sound of a bell tower.
• Mussorgsky’s "The Great Gate of Kiev" (from Pictures at an Exhibition) features powerful bell sounds, often transcribed for piano.
• Rachmaninoff's "The Bells" (Choral Symphony) was inspired by Poe's poem and captures bell themes; his piano music also has bell-like textures.