Global Bells
solo piano, performed by Claudia Knafo
Performed by Claudia Knafo (Piano)
Global Bells by Ivan Taranenko was written at the end of February 2014 and is dedicated to Ukrainian Heroes as an instant creative response to the horrific events that took place on Independence Square during the Revolution of Dignity, namely the death of the Heavenly Hundred. The composition uses various techniques of piano playing to reproduce the sound of Orthodox church bells, which revealed eloquently to the whole world the terrible tragedy that occurred in the center of the capital of ancient Kievan Rus and the modern European country, where for the will and freedom of their long-suffering Ukraine countless heroes went to their deaths and gave their hearts and souls to God. Church bells of the Golden-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral accompanied any dangerous, disturbing or threatening events during the revolution on Maidan. The ringing of bells could be loud and raucous when it was necessary to “lift” Kyiv to withstand the invasion of “Berkut” officers, who tried to break the barricades of protesters, or sound somber and quiet in acknowledgment of the deaths of the “Heavenly Hundred.”