Bells have resonated with humankind since they were first crafted well over 4,000 years ago . Before clocks , bells were used to signal the beginning and the end of something . An ancient early warning system , they could signal a jubilee or a catastrophe , but no matter which , the peal of a bell meant an event of importance needed attention .
Ancient religions , too , felt the power of a bell ’ s reverberations and incorporated them in many of their rites and rituals . Pagans believed they banished evil spirits . In Exodus of the Old Testament , bells are sewn into the hem of Aaron ’ s robe , their jingle signifying his holiness as he enters and leaves the temple . The peal of a bell is often referred to as ‘ the music of the Gods ’. As the art of bell making grew , so did the spread of Christianity . In
400 AD , Paulinus , Bishop of Nola , in Campania , Italy summoned the faithful to service with a remarkable , deeply resonate sound produced by an enormous brass kettle struck with a hammer . ( Because of this , in a modern bell orchestras , smaller bells are called ‘ noloe ’ or ‘ nola ’, after the priest , and the larger bells ‘ campanoe ’ after the town .)
A few centuries later , monks were casting ever larger and more elaborate bells until Italy , and eventually all of Europe , was blanketed with bell towers .
Leave it to the British to invent a mathematical system , known as change ringing , to produce a kind of music , from towers with multiple bells . The complicated and mathematically precise
GREENVILLE LIFE 19 HOLIDAY 2024