Category Archives: Church Music

New Music for Handbells – O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright

We’re starting 2017 with a new arrangement for eight handbells. This is the German hymn O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright.

“O Morning Star, how fair and bright
thou beamest forth in truth and light,
O Sovereign meek and lowly!
Thou Root of Jesse, David’s Son,
my Lord and Master, thou hast won
my heart to serve thee solely!
Thou art holy,
fair and glorious,
rich in blessing,
rule and might o’er all possessing.”

Over the years, this hymn has been popular for weddings and funerals in Germany. However, in the USA it’s now more often sang at Epiphany.

More information about this arrangement

This arrangement isn’t too challenging to play, and would be also be very suitable as a quartet piece. If you’d like to play it, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you purchase music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a PDF file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell choir.

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed the guide to take you through the purchase process in a stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you seek, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

O Morning Star
Christmas handbells!

New Music for Handbells – Crown Him with Many Crowns

Our latest 8-bell piece is the hymn tune Diademata, written in 1868 by English organist and composer George J Elvey. It’s most often sung as Crown Him with Many Crowns.

We recorded this piece several months ago in Los Altos, California. We brought it out into the open again (quite literally) when we played duets on 8th Street here in Holland last Sunday. It prompted a surprise sing-along from a group of shoppers passing by. It’s always fun when people recognise a tune, especially when it’s one we haven’t played for a while!

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play Crown Him with Many Crowns, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

Please note that Choraegus handbell music comes to you as a digital score to download and print. You’ll be responsible for printing the correct number of copies of the sheet music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might like to read our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take some of the stress away from the online purchasing process!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus music, please let us know, and we’ll be happy to help!

Crown Him with Many Crowns - handbells

New Music for Handbells – This is My Father’s World

Here’s our latest hymn arrangement for 8 handbells – it’s This is My Father’s World.

We were quite surprised to find out that the tune Terra Beata (Latin for beautiful world) is originally an English folk tune.

How to get the sheet music for this arrangement

This arrangement is fairly straightforward to play, and suitable for 2-4 ringers. If you’d like to play This Is My Father’s World, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you buy music from Choraegus, please note that the music will come to you in digital (PDF) format. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you haven’t purchased music from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this (with pictures) to help make the process stress-free!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please take a look at our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

This is My Father's World - handbells

New Music for Handbells – Children of the Heavenly Father

Children of the Heavenly Father is our latest 8-bell piece. It’s an arrangement of a tune that is thought to have originally been a Swedish folk melody.

We played this hymn for the first time at Burlingame United Methodist Church, California, at their Father’s Day service last month.

Our 8-bell arrangement is straightforward to play, and would also be suitable for a trio or quartet.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play Children of the Heavenly Father, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you purchase Choraegus music, the music score will come to you as a digital download. That means you’ll be responsible for printing it yourself, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell choir. Please don’t pay for more copies than you need!

If you’re not familiar with buying our music online, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to make the process as stress-free as possible!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our handbell music, you might like to check our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you seek, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Handbell Duets with Organ Accompaniment!

We’re excited to be able to add a new video to our selection of handbell duets with organ accompaniment! Over the last few years, we’ve very much enjoyed being part of the music ministry at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We’ve led Monday evening rehearsals with the Alleluia Ringers, and played handbells in Sunday morning services.

One of the highlights for us has been collaborating with some of the talented musicians at the church. We’ve added handbell parts to choir anthems, used our bells to accompany congregational singing, and performed in concerts for the Alzheimer’s Association. It’s been so much fun to hear music played by Senior Organist T. Paul Rosas in the morning services. Paul has written accompaniments to a couple of our 8-bell pieces too!

It’s been a long time coming, but we finally managed to get a video of Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee with organ accompaniment. We’re grateful to Los Altos UMC for this recording from the last of three morning services on May 22nd, 2016:

We also have a recording from the summer of 2015, when we performed this piece in our concert with Philadelphia Bronze in King of Prussia, Organist Ross Boerner is the Director of Music Ministries at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:

Would you like to play our handbell duets with organ accompaniment?

If you’d like to play Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. You can buy it either with or without the organ accompaniment.

You might also like to take a look at our other organ-and-handbells collaboration, which we published earlier this year. Come Christians, Join to Sing is also available from Choraegus. We played this on Easter Sunday!

Any questions?

We’re always happy to answer questions about buying or playing our music. If you have questions, please contact us and we’ll be glad to help.

New Music for Handbells – Take the Name of Jesus With You

“Take the Name of Jesus with you,
Child of sorrow and of woe,
It will joy and comfort give you;
Take it then, where’er you go.
Precious Name, O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of Heav’n.
Precious Name, O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of Heav’n.”

Here’s our latest 8-bell arrangement – the hymn Take the Name of Jesus With You (PRECIOUS NAME). We recorded this video during a rehearsal at Los Altos United Methodist Church. It’s a lively and fun arrangement to play!

How to get the sheet music

If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available from Choraegus.

When you purchase sheet music from Choraegus, you’ll need to remember that it comes to you as a digital (PDF) file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might find our step-by-step guide helpful. We designed this to take you through the purchasing process and make it stress-free!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, we recommend looking at our Frequently-Asked Questions. It’s possible that someone else has already asked the same question, and received an answer! If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

New Music for Handbells – Finlandia (Be Still, My Soul)

Finlandia is our latest arrangement for 8 handbells.

Some of the history of Finlandia

The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote Finlandia in 1889. It was originally the Finlandia Hymn; part of a symphonic poem. Sibelius then reworked it as a standalone piece, as part of his Masonic Ritual Music. The Finnish poet Veikko Antero Koskenniemi wrote words for it in 1941, and it became popular as a national song for Finland, although not the official national anthem.

In 1752, Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel had written a hymn in German: Stille meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen. In 1855, Jane Laurie Borthwick translated it into English as Be Still, My Soul.

“Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He, faithful, will remain.
Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.”

Another popular hymn sung to the Finlandia tune is We Rest on Thee, written in England by Edith G. Cherry in 1895. This Is My Song is another hymn that uses the same tune, with words written in 1934 by Lloyd Stone. It’s also the tune used for Gweddi dros Gymru (A Prayer for Wales), which is widely considered to be the second Welsh national anthem.

With thanks to Los Altos United Methodist Church for allowing us to rehearse and record this piece in their beautiful sanctuary.

Would you like to play Finlandia?

If you’d like to play this arrangement the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you buy music from Choraegus, please remember that it will come to you as a digital file (PDF). You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, you might find our step-by-step guide helpful!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

An Organ Accompaniment to Come Christians, Join to Sing

On Easter Sunday we had the opportunity to be part of the celebrations at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We played a couple of our new hymn accompaniments (coming to our website soon!) as well as specially-arranged handbell parts for two choir anthems.

Organ accompaniment to Come Christians Join to Sing
Easter Sunday at Los Altos United Methodist Church

We also enjoyed collaborating with LAUMC’s talented Senior Organist, T. Paul Rosas. Paul recently wrote an organ accompaniment to Come Christians, Join to Sing. We played the 8-bell arrangement with organ and handbells at the three morning services on Easter Sunday. It was a lot of fun! Here’s a recording from one of the services:

Our thanks go to Los Altos United Methodist Church for making this recording available to us.

Would you like to play this piece?

If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from our music site.

When you buy music from Choraegus, please remember that the music will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. See our printing guides for more information about this!

If you’re new to buying Choraegus music, you might find it helpful to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at the Frequently-Asked Questions. It’s possible that someone else has already asked the same question and received an answer! If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

New Music for Handbells – He Keeps Me Singing

Here’s our latest 8-bell arrangement; it’s the popular hymn He Keeps Me Singing.

We know this hymn as a lively and joyful melody. However, we recently read about the circumstances that led Luther Burgess Bridgers to write it – and they were far from happy. He was a pastor and evangelist who wrote the hymn after his wife and three sons had died in a house fire while he was away preaching.

“There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
In all of life’s ebb and flow.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.”

Our thanks to Los Altos United Methodist Church for allowing us to rehearse in their beautiful sanctuary. It’s the place where we had our wedding ceremony in September 2012.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you buy music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a digital download; a PDF file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, we recommend our step-by-step guide! We designed this in an attempt to take you through the process in a stress-free way.

Any questions for us?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to check our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

He Keeps Me Singing - handbells

New Music for handbells – For the Beauty of the Earth

As we say hello to the month of April, here’s a new 8-bell arrangement – the hymn For the Beauty of the Earth.

The useful thing about this tune is that it also doubles as the Christmas carol As With Gladness, Men of Old. Two titles for the price of one!

Would you like to play For the Beauty of the Earth?

If you’d like to play this piece, it’s available from Choraegus.

When you buy handbell music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a digital (PDF) file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase will entitle you to print up to 4 copies of this 8-bell arrangement for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you haven’t previously purchased music from Choraegus, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this to make the process as stress-free as possible!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please check our Frequently-Asked Questions, in case the answer is there! If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.