View of the bell tower of the 12th-century Sant Romà church, where students of the Vall d'en Bas School of Bell Ringers perform playing bells, in the small Spanish village of Joanetes, Spain, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)View of the bell tower of the 12th-century Sant Romà church, where students of the Vall d'en Bas School of Bell Ringers perform playing bells, in the small Spanish village of Joanetes, Spain, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The sound of church bells around the world is usually made by machine. But before newspapers, radio, telephones, television and the internet, bell ringing by hand communicated important information within small communities across Europe.

Now, a small school of bell ringers in northeastern Spain wants to recover the art of hand, or manual, bell ringing. The school’s founder and leader, Xavier Pallàs, says there is a whole language of bell ringing to rescue and return to use.

The Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers effort comes two years after the international community recognized the import of manual bell ringing in Spain. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, added the practice to its Humanity’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2022.

Students of the Vall d'en Bas School of Bell Ringers, demonstrate their skill at the 12th-century Sant Romà church in the tiny Spanish village village of Joanetes, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Students of the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers, demonstrate their skill at the 12th-century Sant Romà church in the tiny Spanish village village of Joanetes, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A method of messaging for centuries

Pallàs’ students have learned how to ring out calls for village celebrations, warnings of bad weather or fire, religious services, and deaths. Pallàs says bells could still “help mark the rituals that we need.”

The change to mechanical ringing devices over the past century has flattened the bells’ songs and muted their messaging powers, the teacher said. If the bells are played with expertise, he added, the sound can signal a time for celebrating or mourning. The sound can even signal when to run to the aid of a neighbor in need.

“For centuries, the tolling of church bells was our most important communication method,” said Pallàs. He spoke inside the belfry that also serves as classroom, in the town of Joanetes.

“Machines cannot reproduce the richness of the sounds that we used to hear, so there has been a simplification and unification of bell ringing. The language has been lost little by little until now, when we are finally recognizing its worth.”

Reconnecting with the past

Manual church bell ringing has continued in Eastern Orthodox countries. But most Christian churches in Western Europe today use electronic bell ringing systems.

The students at Vall d’en Bas include women and men from diverse professional backgrounds. One student was in his 20s. Several students were retirees.

All spent the past few months researching bell sequences, documenting their history and learning to play them.

Roser Sauri jumped at the chance to reconnect with her childhood. She worked to recover and play the sequence that had sounded in her grandfather’s village to announce his baptism.

“The bells formed a part of my life,” said Sauri, who now works in artificial intelligence.

Joan Carles Osuna, a student of the Vall d'en Bas School of Bell Ringers, plays the bells at the 12th-century Sant Romà church, at the village of Joanetes, about two hours north of Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Joan Carles Osuna, a student of the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers, plays the bells at the 12th-century Sant Romà church, at the village of Joanetes, about two hours north of Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Honoring humans and God

Juan Carles Osuna and two other students recently tolled for the death of a woman. That meant swinging the largest of the bells. It weighs 429 kilograms.

“It’s an emotional experience,” Osuna said. “You feel your blood pumping. You feel the strength, and how you are communicating with everyone in earshot.”

He added, “For me it is an honor, it’s a way to honor both humans and God.”

Villagers of Joanetes, Spain sit next to the 12th-century Sant Romà church as the students of the Vall d'en Bas School of Bell Ringers play its bells on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Villagers of Joanetes, Spain sit next to the 12th-century Sant Romà church as the students of the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers play its bells on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Dreaming of bell ringers across Spain

Xavier Pallàs says he has a full class lined up for the fall and about 60 more people on an admission wait list. He believes that a recovery of bell ringing in a neighborhood or town’s life could help strengthen local communities.

The school leader said, “This is a means of communication that reaches everyone inside a local community and can help it come together at concrete moments.”

I’m Caty Weaver.

The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

church – n. a building for public holy services, especially of Christian belief

ritual – n. ceremony, especially of religious tradition

belfry – n. a bell tower

diverse – adj. involving many different kinds of related or similar things

sequence – n. the order in which things are or should be connected, related, or dated

swing – v. to move quickly in a sweeping curve

concrete – adj. belonging to or based on actual experience; not abstract