Kolokola

Alexander Levine was born in Moscow and studied piano from the age of six at the Gnessin Music School, and later he took up the clarinet. Upon graduation he was offered a place at the Moscow Gnessin Music Academy. During his college years he also held the position of Principal Guitar in the Orchestra of Russian National Radio and Television. In the years that followed he established himself as a composer working in collaboration with a variety of highly acclaimed performers in Russia. Since 1992, he has lived in the United Kingdom. He then continued to pursue his musical studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied with among others, Simon Bainbridge. The title Kolokola translates into English as church bells or rather the toll of the bells. A great deal can be said about the religious, historical, and philosophical aspects of bell ringing, and in Russian culture it had always been a particularly powerful, almost archetypal image. This image of church bells prevails throughout the entire work, which was originally conceived as a projection of various aspects of human existence with a wide range of historical, religious and Russian folklore cross-references. There are complete Russian/English texts included in the program booklet.