Hear the sledges with the bells

Hear the sledges with the bells --
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells --
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) , no title, from The Bells, no. 1

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) , "The Bells" [vocie and piano]
by Edward Francis Fitzwilliam (1824-1857) , "Hear the sledges with the bells", from Four Dramatic Songs
by Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (1874-1952) , "Hear the sledges with the bells", published 1919. [partsong: SSA a cappella]

by Thomas Anderton (1836-1903) , "The Sleighbells", published 187-? [trio of treble voices and piano] [see full setting text]
by Frank Ahrold (1931-) , "The Bells", published 1967. [SATB] [see full setting text]
by Emma Lou Diemer (1927-) , "The Bells", published 1961. [chorus: SATB and piano four-hands] [see full setting text]
by John Emeléus , "The Bells", published 1962. [unison song] [see full setting text]
by D. Ezechiels , "The Bells", published 1888. [cantata] [see full setting text]
by Arthur Foote (1853-1937) , "The Bells", published 1929. [chorus: SATB and piano] [see full setting text]
by George Fox (1854-1902) , "The Bells", published 1876. [cantata: SATB and orchestra] [see full setting text]
by William Wallace Gilchrist (1846-1916) , "The Bells", published 1913. [chorus: SSAA and piano] [see full setting text]
by John Habash , "The Bells", published 1963 [chorus: SATB], note: words adapted by Edna Lewis [see full setting text]
by Cuthbert Harris (1870-1932) , "Silver Sleigh Bells", published 1922. [SSA trio or SATB] [see full setting text]
by H. Stanley Hawley (1867-1916) , "The Bells", published 1894. [recit. with piano] [see full setting text]
by Joseph (or Josef) Charles Holbrooke (1878-1958) , "The Bells", op. 50a, published 1906 [chorus and grand orchestra], note: also set in a German translation by Alice Klengel [see full setting text]
by Fedor Kebalin , "The Bells", published 1966, from Canticle of Seasons [see full setting text]
by Hazel Gertrude Kinscella (1893-1960) , "The Bells", published 1938. [chorus: SSA and piano] [see full setting text]
by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815-1868) , "The Bells" [see full setting text]
by Henry Lahee (1826-1912) , "The Bells", op. 128 no. 1, published 1937 [SSA and piano], note: arranged by Purcell J. Mansfield [see full setting text]
by F. Lancelott , "The Bells", published 1957. [cantata] [see full setting text]
by Franco Leoni (1864-1949) , "The Bells", published 1908. [vocal scene for baritone or contralto and orchestra] [see full setting text]
by Clarence Lucas (1866-1947) , "The Bells", op. 56, published 1913. [madrigal: SATB a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Nicola Aloysius Montani (1880-1948) , "The Bells", published 1917. [cantata: SSA chorus, soprano and alto soli, piano or orchestra] [see full setting text]
by Phil Ochs (1940-1976) , "The Bells", published 1967 [chorus: SATB and piano], arranged by Herbert Haufrecht [see full setting text]
by C. Alexander Peloquin , "The Bells", published 1964. [chorus: mixed voices, two pianos, two double-basses, percussion] [see full setting text]
by Franz Petersilea (-1878) , "The Bells" [see full setting text]
by Alfred Plumpton , "The Bells", published 1867. [see full setting text]
by Sam Raphling (1910-) , "The Bells", published 1958. [six-part mixed chorus a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (1874-1952) , "The Sledge Bells", published 1909. [partsong: SATB a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Godfrey Sampson , "The Bells", published 1946. [see full setting text]
by Arsene Siegel (1897-) , "The Iron Bells", published 1945. [medium voice and piano] [see full setting text]
by David E. Stone (1922-) , "Winter (The Bells)", published 1980 [SSA], from Five Songs for Female Voices and Piano [see full setting text]
by Harold Hinchcliffe Sykes , "The Bells" [two-part canon for treble voices] [see full setting text]
by George Wald , "The Bells", published 1942. [chorus: SATB a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Michael White (1931-) , "The Silver Bells", published 1961. [mixed chorus a cappella] [see full setting text]
by Philip George Wilkinson (1929-) , "The Bells", published 1954. [two-part song] [see full setting text]
by Harry Robert Wilson (1901-?) , "The Bells", published 1968. [see full setting text]

by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873-1943) , no title, op. 35 no. 1, published 1920 [chorus, soprano, tenor, baritone soloists, and orchestra], from Kolokola, no. 1.

Date added to the website: 2007-12-14.

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