Composed in 1913 to Konstantin Balmont's free adaptation in Russian of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe, Kolokola (also knwon as The Bells), was one of Rachmaninoff's favorites among his own works. Balmont's Russian setting was sent to the composer by an anonymous admirer while he was in Rome. Rachmaninoff often referred to the work as a "choral symphony" and even for a short time as his "Third Symphony." Composed at the same desk used by Tchaikovsky in Rome, the piece has some parallels with the works of the earlier Russian master - notably the Pathetique Symphony and The Queen of Spades....