The Bells of Russia, History and Technology by Edward V. Williams, 1985, Princeton University Press, 41 William St., Princeton, NJ 08549. 276 pages.
In writing about bells the most difficult task is organizing the usually divergent, yet related material. Mr. Willimas' book succumbs to this problem, in some aspects, and fails to maintain good organization throughout. However, there is a great deal of new, highly interesting material on Russian bells and technology, all of it greatly needed to add to today's knowledge in a long-neglected chapter in the history of bells of the world. Williams certainly captures our interest.
The most successful parts of the book are those which deal directly with specific bells, foundry technology, and Russian bell characteristics. Part IV and V are the highlights of the book: these sections contain the detailed stories of all those monumental Russian bells mentioned in any general history of bells, but which never before seemed to have enough amplifying information. The histories of these monuments, through their conception, founding, casting recasting, and recasting, and recasting, and general observations on the Russian scene, are only rivaled by the notorious stories of the tsars and tzaritzas contemporary to the bells. The discussion of the differences between "western" and "eastern" bells is very well done.
The photographs and illustration are excellent, although their placement within the text is often far from the descriptions that go with them. Lacking are adequate maps or geographic plans of Russia and major Russian cities. Maps are needed to help conceptualize the distances between various locations, especially when the "foundry" wasn't located at the base of a prospective bell tower.
The use of both the Russian and English bell weight equivalents throughout is good. Most of the sizes are mind-boggling and some of our carillon bells are tiny by comparison. Imagine how many complaints one might get if a bourdon weighed as much as Danilov's 1654 bell of about 289,000 pounds! "(It is) curious to see how far strokes on Danilov's bell could be heard... he sent riders into the countryside around (Moscow) and ordered all the city's bells to be rung simultaneously, whereupon ringers in the Kremlin began to sound the new bell. It's voice, deep and sonorous, rumbled forth across the city beneath the swarming rhythms of all the smaller bells and carried beyond the Kremlin for about 4.64 miles.!" Unfortunately, the ringers' exuberance in creating this magnificent sound exceeded the bell's specification, whereupon the bell's "booming voice suddenly cracked and disintegrated." A one-time rung bell!
This book belongs on the shelves of every carillonneur.
