The Bells is a cycle of four songs based on Edgar Allen Poe’s four-stanza poem The Bells. Each stanza describes different kinds of bells and evokes scenes and emotions from their sounds. There are sleigh bells, wedding bells, alarm bells and funeral bells. The music presents four different moods to match the imagery of the poetry. Common thematic material in the poem is reflected in the music and is transformed and treated in various ways in each song. The melodic material is derived from Poe’s naturally rhythmic verse.
The piece was written for Liana Valente and take advantage of her wide range, adeptness at contemporary music, and expressive interpretive skills.