John Lennon's Imagine rings out on Liverpool Cathedral bells

May 17 2009 By Samantha Parker

Crowds listen to Imagine, being played on Liverpool Cathedral's bells

JOHN Lennon’s iconic song Imagine rang out three times across Liverpool at the weekend.

The song, which asks its listeners to "imagine there’s no heaven", was played on Liverpool Cathedral’s bells as part of the North West’s Futuresonic festival on Saturday.

Cathedral ringer Sam Austin, 23, a student at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, led the team of seven volunteer bell ringers who graduated from playing the melody on hand-bells to the cathedral’s world record-beating peal.

Sam was given the tricky task of translating Lennon’s original music into a format which could be successfully performed on church bells.

Stuart Haynes, media manager for the cathedral, said: "We were really pleased with how it went on Saturday. There were on average between 200-300 people listening to each performance.

"I think everybody who heard it really appreciated it because they broke into spontaneous applause each time.

"It was a difficult challenge for the bell ringers and I heard them mention they may try to take it to New York and do it again there.

"They are unlikely to do it again here because I think they will be looking for a new song and a new challenge.