Larry wrote A Celebration of Our Life for a California couple, in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary in 2008. Their church’s handbell choir played it when they renewed their vows. As we didn’t have a video, we thought it was about time we made one!
About A Celebration of Our Life
(From Choraegus): Fun abounds in this piece, as it describes parts of their story. For instance:
The introductory melody is both thirty beats long and thirty notes long (not counting ties), and it also has three tenuti (three ten.’s = 30!)
Three children are represented as the lines in a three-voice fugue. This fugal melody also appears in the last section as a countermelody.
There’s a bit of theory geek stuff in the final chord sequences:
– In bars 87 and 88: VII + vi + VII + VII + ii + I = 30
– In bars 89 and 90: ii * iii * V * I = 30
– and in bars 91 and 92 (not counting the suspended 4th): VI * V * I = 30
Apart from all that “fun”, the piece is a challenging Level 4, written for 5 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes. Sheet music for this arrangement is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. You can either purchase an individual copy (useful for massed ringing events, or for preview), or purchase the full choir license. Purchase of the full choir license gives you our no-fuss permission to print up to 15 copies for your group.
How to get the music
Your purchase of the full-choir license also gives permission for you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service without the need for any additional license or fee, although we ask you to credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). See our licensing agreement for full details. We appreciate your help in spreading the word about Choraegus handbell music. If you record a video of your group playing any of our pieces, we’d love to see it. You’re welcome to share it with us on our Facebook page too!
Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a PDF file, which you’ll need to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.
If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the information you need, and we’ll be happy to help.
