Miche Olfield Tubulars Bells

Composer Mike Oldfield rose to fame on the success of Tubular Bells, an eerie, album-length conceptual piece employed to stunning effect in the film The Exorcist. Born May 15, 1953, in Reading, England, Oldfield began his professional career at the age of 14, forming the Sallyangie folk duo with his sister Sally; a year later, the siblings issued their debut LP, Children of the Sun. By the age of 16, he was playing bass with Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' group the Whole World alongside experimental classical arranger David Bedford and avant-garde jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill; within months, Oldfield was tapped to become the band's lead guitarist prior to recording the 1971 LP Shooting at the Moon.

It was late one evening in 1973, when, with the professional musicians resident at Richard Branson's country estate The Manor finished up for the day, the unknown Mike Oldfield settled in for one night of frantic production on his debut record…

Rachmaninov allegedly considered The Bells to be his best work, and it is not difficult to hear why. Written in 1913, it has a freshness of invention that is irresistible. Perhaps the text (an adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe poem) struck a chord with this composer's sensibilities: different bells symbolize different facets of existence. The piece deserves more frequent airing, and it is to be hoped that Mikhail Pletnev and his Russian forces help raise awareness of it. The soloists are superb (Mescheriakova is particularly impressive), but the real star is the Moscow State Chamber Choir. This is a worthy companion to Pletnev's accounts of Rachmaninov orchestral works.