Darius Milhaud’s Les Cloches, Op. 259 (“The Bells”), dates from 1946 and is a six‑movement symphonic suite adapted from his lost ballet after Edgar Allan Poe’s poem. The movements—Ouverture: Animé; Cloches d’argent (Silver Bells): Vif; Cloches d’or (Golden Bells): Modérément animé; Cloches de bronze (Brazen Bells): Dramatique; Cloches de fer (Iron Bells): Modéré; and Bacchanale—trace a progression from ceremonial fanfares to a wild, dance‑like finale.

The Ouverture introduces the principal motifs, while the central movements contrast shimmering, muted colors (Silver and Golden Bells) with darker, more robust timbres (Bronze and Iron Bells), leading into the Bacchanale’s exuberant rhythmic drive. At just over 23 minutes in performance, Les Cloches balances vivid pictorial effects with cohesive motivic development. Its concise yet varied palette showcases Milhaud’s modernist harmonic language—modal inflections and unexpected chromatic shifts—without abandoning melodic clarity, making it both evocative of Poe’s imagery and firmly rooted in mid‑20th‑century orchestral writing.