Rachmaninoff: Choral symphony, The Bells - 4. Lento lugubre, The Mournful Iron Bells

Rachmaninoff wrote to his friend Morozoff in December 1906, asking whether he could think of a suitable subject for a choral piece to follow his cantata spring. Nothing came of this request. However, while on a holiday in Rome early in 1907, Rachmaninoff received an anonymous letter containing a copy of Balmont's translation of The Bells. The sender asked him to read the verses, suggesting they were suitable for musical setting and would especially appeal to him. This suggestion was both extremely sensitive and opportune.

Here is the 4th mov .The finale, marked Lento lugubre and subtitled The Mournful Iron Bells, certainly lives up to these descriptions. It is gloomy; the sound of the baritone is dark, and that of the chorus cold and dispiriting. At the end Rachmanniof conveys only grudging hope, when the music turns sad and warmly Romantic, as the baritone tells of the "quiet of the tomb."