Unlike Western Christianity, the bells of the Russian Orthodox Church are not rung but struck. The bell itself is firmly fixed and the clapper is struck at the edge of the bell with the help of a rope. The recordings on this album were made during the times of the former Soviet Union and document the bells of famous Russian Orthodox churches and monasteries in Moscow (New Virgin Monastery), Sergiyev Posad (Church of the 40 Martyrs), Pechory (Pskov-Caves Monastery) in Russia, and Tallinn (Cathedral) and Püchty (Convent of the Defunction of Mary) in Estonia.