Various Artists - Augusta Read Thomas: Bell Illuminations (2022)

For composers beyond counting, the sound of bells has been a source of magnetic fascination since time immemorial (figures as disparate as Rachmaninoff and Jonathan Harvey immediately come to mind), but few have hardwired it in their creative psyche as deeply as Augusta Read Thomas. Previous releases in this series have already included a number of such works (Carillon Sky, Resounding Earth, Bells Ring Summer, Ripple Effects), but the present volume is the first one to concentrate upon this long-standing preoccupation. Each of the three major works gathered here is prefaced by a short miniature. On the process of composition, Thomas has said that “it's like living inside of a poem… I think of myself, and have been described as, a poet-composer. I sculpt my music akin to how poets create, refine, and polish their poems".