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| Kolokol | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kolokol |
| Background | percussion |
| Classification | Idiophone |
| Hornbostel Sachs | 111.242.1 |
| Developed | Early modern period |
| Related | Bell founding, Tolling (bell), Carillon |
Kolokol Kolokol is a term historically applied to large Russian bells and to a 19th-century Russian political journal; it denotes both an object and a cultural signifier associated with Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tsardom of Russia, and later Russian Empire institutions. The word became prominent in contexts involving prominent figures such as Alexander II, Alexander Herzen, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and events including the Emancipation reform of 1861 and the Decembrist revolt. Kolokol occupies intersections of material culture, print culture, liturgical practice, and political dissent.
The lexeme derives from Old East Slavic and Proto-Slavic roots cognate with terms in Polish language and Czech language for bell, reflecting a long Slavic tradition of bell-ringing around urban centers like Novgorod and Pskov. Linguistic neighbors include Russian language terms used in church registers of the Muscovite Rus' period and civic inventories kept by magistrates in Kremlin administrations. The semantic field overlaps with words recorded in inventories of the Russian Orthodox Church and chronicles describing ringing for rites linked to rulers such as Ivan IV and patriarchs like Patriarch Nikon.
Large bells have been cast and consecrated in Moscow Kremlin workshops since medieval times; notable moments include casting episodes under tsars such as Michael I of Russia and patrons like the Romanov family. Bells served in civic life for marking events that involved figures including Peter the Great and for signaling during conflicts like the Great Northern War and the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. In the 19th century, the printed journal Kolokol, associated with exiles and émigrés in London and contributors from Saint Petersburg, became a vehicle for critique by personalities such as Alexander Herzen and Nikolay Ogarev against policies of Nicholas I and later Alexander II. The journal engaged with movements including the Russian nihilist movement and reform debates triggered by intellectuals like Vissarion Belinsky and Mikhail Bakunin.
Bells: Large castings used in cathedral complexes such as Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and the Dormition Cathedral, Moscow functioned as liturgical and civic signals. Large memorial bells like the famed but fragmented examples linked to artisans in Yaroslavl and workshops near Tula were used in coronations for monarchs like Paul I and funerary tolls for statesmen including Pyotr Stolypin. Journal: The Kolokol periodical published essays, open letters, and reportage by émigrés in London and correspondents in Geneva; it influenced reformers like Dmitry Pisarev and readers within networks connected to Zemstvo activists. Other: The term appears in inventories of industrial sites such as bell foundries near Nizhny Novgorod and in nomenclature of musical ensembles linked to institutions like the Moscow Conservatory.
Traditional large bells described in archival inventories from workshops in Tula Oblast and casts in the Kremlin Armoury are bronze castings alloyed from copper and tin, using techniques refined by founders associated with families recorded in 18th-century Russia. Casting employed loam moulds and pit casting methods documented in contracts preserved among estates of patrons such as members of the Boyar class. Surfaces were often inscribed with Cyrillic dedications invoking figures like Emperor Alexander I or ecclesiastical authorities such as Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow; decorative repoussé and relief work sometimes depicted saints venerated in Russian Orthodox iconography like Saint Sergius of Radonezh and scenes from the Book of Psalms.
Bells functioned as metaphors in the writings of novelists and poets including Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, and critics such as Vladimir Solovyov, where tolling signified destiny, conscience, or societal rupture. Visual arts from painters like Ilya Repin and Isaak Levitan incorporated bell-towers and urban skylines, echoing scenes chronicled by travel writers such as Nikolay Nekrasov. The journal Kolokol framed bell imagery in polemical prose aimed at authorities like Count Sergei Uvarov and referenced events like the Polish January Uprising to mobilize public opinion through allegory and reportage.
Surviving historic bells and fragments are preserved in collections such as the State Historical Museum and displayed near sites restored after damage in events involving regimes like Soviet Union authorities and wartime occupations including the Great Patriotic War. Scholarly study by historians affiliated with Russian Academy of Sciences and conservation work at institutions like Hermitage Museum have documented casting techniques, inscriptions, and provenance. The journal's archival runs are held in libraries including the British Library and archives in Saint Petersburg. Contemporary composers connected to ensembles at the Moscow Conservatory and cultural programs by municipalities like Yekaterinburg revive bell-ringing traditions for festivals commemorating figures such as Dmitri Shostakovich and events like anniversary observances for the Emancipation reform of 1861.
Category:Bells Category:Russian culture Category:Russian journals