AMS 2021 National Conference

Penderecki’s Phantom Bell was presented at the 2021 AMS National Conference and later published on the Timbre and Orchestration Resource (TOR), a peer-reviewed open-access web platform supporting the analysis, creation and teaching of timbre and orchestration.

Penderecki has created a fascinating aural illusion in the fourth movement of his massive, powerful oratorio for Orthodox Easter Eve, Utrenja, Part I: The Entombment of Christ. In the opening seconds we hear the unmistakable sound of the resonance of a great dystonic cathedral bell. However, a look at the score tells us that there is no bell present at this moment. I will give an in-depth look at bell acoustics using Hibbert, Taherzadeh, and Sharp's work in bell pitch perception (2017 p. 55, 62) and show how Penderecki's timbral illusion not only models a bell, but a giant, imaginary Russian-style cathedral bell, as opposed to a European bell.