The many times I have toured in Germany I have always looked
forward to the bell ringing which seemed to happen every day,
but at different times---sometimes in the morning, sometimes afternoon
or evening. Germany doesn't have the variety of churches there
are in the United States, so usually there was only one church
in the central area of the town having its bell or bells rung
for a good half hour or more almost every day. I have always looked
forward to sitting in a park, or lounge in my open-windowed hotel
room quietly listening to the bells while taking in the life around
me.
When back home in my native state of Iowa, my desire to hear
big bells ring motivated me to produce the first Bell Project
in Burlington, Iowa, where the bells are never rung for any lengthy
period of time. Inspired by my experiences in Europe I then developed
my compositional techniques in order to accommodate the number
of bells in the various churches and buildings participating in
my Bell Projects.
There are many aspects to the Bell Projects that go far beyond
my simple desire to hear the bells ring. As part of a musical
composition I try to give each bell its time to sound alone and
in different combinations with the other bells. I also want to
present a texture of rhythmic and tonal interplay that changes
through the performance---as opposed to simply having all the
bells ring all the time. Even when they do all ring together,
I have some of them rung with different timed cadences to allow
more rhythmic variation. Elements of my compositions come from
listening to the rhythms of insect sounds and how the whole sound
of the many varieties of insects chirping in various rhythms becomes
a creation in which an overall bigger cycle of synergetic rhythm
is finally established. Perhaps one could call it a Universal
Rhythm, or maybe even the Music of the Spheres. This is the most
important goal of my musical pursuits--the feeling of being a
part of this larger sense of Music.
I hope that the Bell Projects engender in the listener a reflection and meditation, and, perhaps, the feeling of respect and acceptance-a love---for the environment with all its landmarks and living beings existing within this continuum of sound marked by the rhythm of the bells.