#3422: For Whom the Bells Toll

From the multi-ton carillon to a tricycle bell, hear songs featuring bells, or about bells on this New Sounds. Listen to a song that reworks "Bicycle Built for Two" from Tin Hat, and a work from the group ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble) playing music by Nathan Davis.  Hear music by Pantha du Prince in collaboration with the Norwegian percussion ensemble the Bell Laboratory, involving a bell carillon, a three-ton instrument comprised of 50 bronze bells and operated using a keyboard.

There’s also music from the earliest days of New Sounds, with improvisations for Tibetan bells by Henry Wolff & Nancy Henning, along with music by the Montreal-based five-piece instrumental band Belle Orchestre (who share some members with Arcade Fire.)  Plus Frances-Marie Uitti and Paul Griffiths make music with words spoken by Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” about bells, without bells being seen or heard.  That, and more.

PROGRAM #3422, For Whom the Bells Toll (First aired on 1/23/2013)