Folk box: Russian bells

Each week Olga Shapovalova offers to folk music lovers a multicoloured display of customs and traditions, legends and tales, melodies and rythms of Russia.

Imagine the following scene: a huge city with a traditional transport hub, crowds of people all rushing about their diverse business. People for the most part serious, intent and briskly businesslike. And all of a sudden everything grounds to a halt as if in a cinematic still frame… There comes a bell peal followed by another and people who were just a while ago rushing somewhere stop… They grow silent raising their heads skywards up to where in the ancient belfries a wondrous ancient divine rite begins.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.