Transcendental Etude no. 3

Sergei Lyapunov - Transcendental Etude no. 3 "Carillon" played by David Caldine Lyapunov wrote his impression of the music at the top of the score - "The church bell calls to worship. Its measured peal intermingles with hymn-singing. As the peal becomes more insistent, the great bell is joined by the others in one reverberant summons. The chant of the hymn [old Russian Orthodox song] and the peal of bells succeed each other, with the sonorous not of the great bell rising above all else." Lyapunov (1859-1924) was very close friend of Balakirev, and finished his 12 etudes in 1905. He was professor of piano and composition at St. Petersburg. Because of the revolution, he left the Soviet Union in 1923 to live and teach in Paris. For many years the Soviets tried to cover up his self-exile by saying that he had a heart attack in Paris, while on a concert tour. His brother, Alexander, was a famous mathematician, who made great contributions, which are still used today in electrical engineering and astrodynamics. Coincidentally, I learned about Alexander many years before his brother, in my electrical engineering and astronomy courses at Virginia Tech University.