Premiere: European American Music Alliance Chorale. Salle Cortot, Paris, France, 2011.
Duration: 5:00
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
Instrumentation: a cappella SATB choir (excerpted version available with piano accompaniment)
Program Notes: The text of this work is excerpted from Edgar Allen Poe’s poem of the same title. In typical Poe fashion, he starts off with subject matter that can be light and playful (sleigh bells) and moves toward darker themes. By the end of the poem we reach iron bells tolling death peals. Each voice section plays off the others, just as ringing bells overlap and complement each other. The sectional work of the poem is reflected in the music, each section growing denser and more dissonant until the coda, with a brief echo of the opening theme.
This recording was arranged for the chorale at the European American Musical Alliance.