We were pleased to be invited to present a handbell duet concert as part of Midland First United Methodist Church’s Next Generation concert series. The concert took place in the Chapel of this impressive church that was designed by Alden B. Dow in 1947.

We enjoyed a tour of some of the church when we arrived. The church has a thriving handbell program, and the handbell choirs have their own dedicated rehearsal and storage room. We enjoyed seeing some of their bells, and meeting a couple of the ringers at the concert. If you ever get the opportunity to visit this place, it’s well worth it. It’s the kind of building that’s easy to get lost inside, because it takes up a whole city block! The church building opened in 1950, and the Chapel was added in 1952, with this beautiful window that looks out over the reflecting pool. The Chapel seats 120. The space and acoustics there are ideal for a handbell duet performance.

A whole concert of just 8-bell music

We didn’t have a pianist or any other collaborative musicians with us for this concert, so the whole repertoire had to be played on handbells, unaccompanied. For a bit of variety, we decided to play one piece on handchimes, and another using bells an octave lower than we’d usually play. We used three tables for the performance; our “main table” (the one we usually use for our duet performances), plus two additional smaller tables, which we used to put bells and chimes on while they weren’t being used, as well as the music scores after we’d finished playing them. Here’s how it all looked, before the start of the concert:

Concert repertoire

Most of our repertoire for this concert was sacred, with just a few classical and secular pieces. Here’s the list of music we played:

Holy Manna (19th-century American folk hymn)
Wedding Bells (traditional bell peals)
He Leadeth Me (William Bradbury)
Lucerna Laudoniae (David Evans)
Bells of St. Mary’s (A. Emmett Adams)
Allegro, from the Concerto in A Minor, first movement (Antonio Vivaldi)
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (Ludwig von Beethoven)
Calliope House (David Richardson)
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (John Wyeth)
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (traditional Welsh)
What Child Is This? / Greensleeves (traditional English)
It Is Well With my Soul (Philip Bliss)
Ma Navu (traditional Hebrew melody)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (Gustav Holst)
O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (traditional)
Shenandoah (traditional American)
Amazing Grace (John Newton)
To God Be the Glory (William H. Doane)

All of these 8-bell pieces are arranged by Larry Sue. With the exception of Shenandoah, which is still unpublished (coming soon!), they are available for purchase and download from Choraegus. Note that the Wedding Bells score is available to download free of charge.

Thanks to all at Midland First United Methodist Church!

Our thanks go to Gabrielle Cook-McIlvenna, Director of Music Ministries, for the warm welcome to Midland First UMC. We enjoyed the tour of the building, and the opportunity to share our music with a small but friendly audience, in such a beautiful performance space. Thank you to everyone who came to our concert!