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CD Details: The Great Paschal Bell-Ringing at Danilov Monastery

Cat. no. H75 Date Listed 02/15/2010		Title:	The Great Paschal Bell-Ringing at Danilov Monastery
		Performers:	Various bell ringers
		Conductor:
		Recording Type / Total Time:	/ 64:50:00
		Label and Number:	Danilov Monastery
		Issue Date:	2007
		Price:	$17.98
		Rating:	***1/2

REVIEW
In Russian Orthodox tradition, church bells are referred to as "voices of God," which accompany all liturgical (and civic) occasions with their powerful and transformative sounds. In old Russia before 1917, there was a tradition that throughout Bright Week (the week following Easter Sunday), anyone who wished could take a turn ringing the bells at any of the numerous bell towers that dotted the Russian landscape. In Moscow, it is said, the pealing of the bells hung above the city for days like a bright cloud. These were opportunities for young people interested in bell ringing to learn from the old masters, who were once plentiful in Russia. With the fall of Communism, the glorious traditions of Russian Orthodox bell ringing are being resurrected. In 1985, the ruined bell tower of Danilov Monastery in Moscow was restored from old drawings and 15 old bells, gathered from various churches, were hoisted anew. Twenty years later, on the 20th anniversary of this restoration, a Festival of Bell Ringing took place, in the course of which bells were once again rung in all the Moscow churches. This CD presents 14 tracks of peals by various master-ringers who came together on that occasion. In 2008, the year after this disc was made, the original bells of Danilov Monastery, which had been miraculously preserved at Harvard University, were returned to their original home. We can expect that the Society of Chruch Bell Ringers, now headquartered at the Christ the Savior Cathedral, will soon produce a new disc featuring those bells. In the meantime, this CD is a powerful testament to the restoration efforts in Russia of this essential Orthodox liturgical art. The informative notes are in Russian only.--V. M.

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