The Bell

The Bell or Die Glocke may refer to:

Print media

Music

Songs

Other

See also

Bell

A bell is a simple idiophone percussion instrument. Although bells come in many forms, most are made of metal cast in the shape of a hollow cup, whose sides form a resonator which vibrates in a single tone upon being struck. The strike may be made by a "clapper" or "uvula" suspended within the bell, by a separate mallet or hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell.

Bells are usually made by casting metal, but small bells can also be made from ceramic or glass. Bells range in size from tiny dress accessories to church bells 5 metres tall, weighing many tons. Historically, bells were associated with religious rituals, and before mass communication were widely used to call communities together for both religious and secular events. Later, bells were made to commemorate important events or people and have been associated with the concepts of peace and freedom. The study of bells is called campanology.

A set of bells, hung in a circle for change ringing, is known as a ring or peal of bells.

Ring the Bell (horse)

Ring The Bell (1 September 1977 – 19 October 1993) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby in 1981, the second Derby win in three years for trainer Neville Atkins. As a yearling, Ring the Bell had been sold for $3,000.

He was a good racehorse throughout his career, but there was one amazing patch of form in the middle of it for which he will be most remembered. He defeated older horses at weight-for-age conditions at Ellerslie Racecourse and then won the Avondale Guineas and the New Zealand Derby. In March 1981, Ring the Bell was sent to race in Australia where he became the first New Zealand-trained horse to win the Canterbury Guineas. After finishing second in the AJC Derby in April 1981 he returned to New Zealand ten days later for the Avondale Championship Stakes over 2000 metres. He carried top weight to a comfortable one length victory which, according to the Sydney Morning Herald proved him to be "a cut above" the rest of his generation in Australia and New Zealand.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia. The novel is regarded as one of Hemingway's best works, along with The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, and A Farewell to Arms.

Background

Ernest Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls in Havana, Cuba, Key West, Florida, and Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1939. In Cuba, he lived in the Hotel Ambos-Mundos where he worked on the manuscript. The novel was finished in July 1940 and published in October. It is based on Hemingway's experiences during the Spanish Civil War and features an American protagonist, named Robert Jordan, who fights with Spanish soldiers for the Republicans. The characters in the novel include: those who are purely fictional, those based on real people but fictionalized, and those who were actual figures in the war. Set in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range between Madrid and Segovia, the action takes place during four days and three nights. For Whom the Bell Tolls became a Book of the Month Club choice, sold half a million copies within months, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and became a literary triumph for Hemingway. Published on 21 October 1940, the first edition print run was 75,000 copies priced at $2.75.

Mike Oldfield

Michael Gordon "Mike" Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English musician and composer. His work blends progressive rock with world, folk, classical, electronic, ambient, and new-age music. He is best known for his 1973 album Tubular Bells – which launched Virgin Records and became a hit after its opening was used as the theme for the film The Exorcist – and for his 1983 hit single "Moonlight Shadow". He is also known for his rendition of the Christmas piece "In Dulci Jubilo".

Oldfield has released more than 20 albums with the most recent being a rock album titled Man on the Rocks, released in 2014.

Biography

Early life

Mike Oldfield's parents are Raymond Oldfield, a general practitioner, and Maureen Liston, an Irish nurse. His sister Sally and brother Terry are also successful musicians and have appeared on several of Mike's albums. He also had a younger brother, David, who had Down's syndrome and died in infancy.

Oldfield was born in the Battle Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, and he attended St. Joseph's Convent School, Highlands Junior School, St. Edward's preparatory school, and Presentation College in Reading. When he was 13, he moved with his parents to Harold Wood in Essex and attended Hornchurch Grammar School, where, having already begun his career in music, he took just one GCE examination, in English.