The Bells

While I was familiar with Rachmaninov’s The Bells, I’d never listened to it in a focused way until re-introduced to it by David Nice’s Russian Music course. Here’s an excerpt from David’s program note for a performance of The Bells at the 2014 Proms:

Goodbye to Tolerance

Denise Levertov’s poem, “Goodbye to Tolerance,” begins:

A Trip to Innisfree Garden, with Music by Eve Beglarian

Even Beglarian’s I am lost by streams II (2020)

Eve Beglarian, in “a book of days,” writes of this piece:

I Have Only Just A Minute

I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it.
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it.
But it’s up to me
to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it.
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute,
but eternity is in it.

—Anonymous (attributed to Dr. Benjamin E. Mays)

“Svetik Savishna” takes a little over a minute to perform—but just listen to what’s packed in it:

Seeking Shostakovich: I Am Not Me, The Nose Is Not Mine

In the teeming collage of text that forms a backdrop for the Metropolitan Opera’s 2010 production of The Nose are the words “spine,” smashed,” and “beautiful, pitiful age.” While in the thrall of the opera’s swirl of sound and image, I held tight to those words in hope of discovering where they came from and what they meant.