No one knows what music the b ianzhong played when they were struck 2,400 years ago.
But in last Friday's concert, new compositions revealed an astounding variety of sounds from soft chimes to deafening clangs, and shades of harmony in the 65 bronze bells' complex overtones and 12-tone scale.
The audience was left with the distinct flavour of the ancient Chu culture (during the Zhou dynasty).
With Chinese orchestras, occasionally the attempt to blend traditional and Western styles is awkward, but in the hands of the Chinese Orchestra and Chinese Chime-bells Orchestra of Hubei, the colourful instruments and virtuoso playing more than make up for it.
In the first piece, Tang Jiangping's Imprints of Ancient Chu, the vibrations of the bells and drums hit us in our seats, drowning out the full orchestra with a glorious noise. They were also exquisitely delicate accompanying the xun in a haunting solo. The orchestra has a new seating arrangement with the gehu section, or cello-like instruments, sitting in the front. They sounded radiant.