08:30 to 10:30
In a unique display unlike any other orchestral performance, the internationally acclaimed Hubei Chime Bells Orchestra presents a special concert with the ancient Chinese Bells dating back 2400 years.
The Hubei Chime Bells Orchestra is an amalgamation of a large bronze chime bells ensemble and a Chinese folk orchestra. The orchestra is famous for having composed the masterpiece, Harmony of Eight Tones, which has been recognised as a significant contribution to the heritage of Chinese music.
The imperial bells are the 433BC chime bells unearthed in 1978 in the Zenghouyi Tomb in Hubei Province in China. There are sixty-five bells with weight up to 5 tonnes hanging on two sets of wood racks.
The use of the imperial bells creates melodious timbre, a beautiful, hypnotising sound, both romantically and sonorously. Not only does the sound of the bells, filled with an elegant beauty transport you back to thousands of years ago but the bells are visually breathtaking because of their scale, their elaborate cast technique and the way in which they impressively hang on their wooden frames.
