Russian Orthodox bell ringing
The theological understanding of bells as "weapons" in spiritual warfare, and their role in the Christian life is emphasized during the rite by the scripture lesson from Numbers 10:1–10: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Make for yourself two silver trumpets … And they shall be for you for the calling of the assembly … When you sound an alarm … And if you shall go forth to war … And in the days of your rejoicing …"The use of bells is symbolic of the proclamation of the Gospel.
Originally, a flat piece of wood or metal called a semantron would be beaten rhythmically with a mallet to summon the faithful to services.
Unfortunately, the Tsar Bell was damaged in a fire in 1737 before it could be successfully hung, and stands today at the base of the tower.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain the production of bells resumed, and has experienced a surge of activity as many of the churches that were destroyed are being rebuilt.
For the Russian tradition a special complex system of ropes is used, designed individually for each belltower.
Training took place only at workshops until 2008, then the first permanent traditional bell-ringing school opened in Moscow, under the leadership of Drozdihin Ilya.
[4] No melody is employed, as in the Western carillon, but rather a complicated polyrhythmical sequence of sounds is produced.
"[2] These sequences have a very special harmony, since Russian bells (unlike Western European ones) are not tuned to a single note.
[citation needed] Generally, a good Russian bell is tuned to produce a whole scale of sounds (up to several dozen of them).
In the Orthodox church, this is a tonsured (clerical) position, and there is a distinct service of the "Setting Apart of a Bell Ringer".
Four kinds of canonical tolls are distinguished, which, rung separately or in combination, comprise all the diversity of Orthodox bell-ringing: Blagovest, Perebor, Perezvon, and Trezvon.
Blagovest means "annunciation", or "good news" because with this ringing the believers are notified that the divine service is about to begin in the church.
Large bell towers typically have five Blagovestniki (ranged from larger to smaller): The Perebor Russian: Перебор is the funeral zvon.
The perebor may be repeated as many times as necessary, and is tolled as the body of the deceased is carried from the temple (church building) to the grave.
The Perezvon (Russian: Перезвон) is the striking of each of the bells, once or several times, from largest to the smallest, with a final stroke on all at once.
This peal symbolizes what the Orthodox Church holds to be the kenosis (self-emptying) of God the Son when he became incarnate (Philippians 2:7–8), and is sounded only twice a year, on Great Friday and Great Saturday during those moments which recount Jesus' death on the cross and his burial.
The order of ringing the different bells is not fixed, but may be composed by the bell-ringer himself and prompted by his creativity and self-expression.
The beginning usually consists of three slow tolls on the blagovestnik for that day, symbolizing the Holy Trinity.
The following are general guidelines, and cannot accommodate the full richness and diversity of the Russian Orthodox Church.
