Category Archives: Music for Funeral and Memorial Services

I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art – for 8 Handbells

“I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,
My only trust and Savior of my heart,
Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;
I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.”

It’s been a while since we published any new 8-bell music! We have several new arrangements that will be available from Choraegus soon… but first, here’s one that we’ve had for a while. It’s a hymn that dates from the 16th century, with the tune TOULON. Our video is another that we recorded early last year, when Larry was waiting to have shoulder surgery.

As with our other 8-bell pieces, this arrangement has no bell-sharing, no picking-up of accidentals during the piece, and no need for tables. We demonstrate it as a 4-in-hand duet, but there are no special techniques written into the score, so it could also be suitable for a trio or quartet to play.

How to purchase the sheet music

If you’d like to play I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print up to four copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. Your purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials.

Please also note that our music is designed as downloadable PDFs. 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. If someone has asked us a question even once, it will be there. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll be happy to help.

I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art - handbells

Kingsfold – for Handbells, 3-5 Octaves

Kingsfold is a folk tune that’s thought to date back to the Middle Ages. It’s a tune used for a variety of texts, both sacred and secular. As a folk song, you might know it as Dives and Lazarus or The Star of the County Down. In worship, it’s sung as the popular hymn I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, and also as When Jesus Walked Upon This Earth. For Christmas, it’s the setting for O Sing a Song of Bethlehem. Our arrangement of Kingsfold for handbells and optional handchimes is a very versatile piece!

We enjoyed putting this video together. Playing 3-5 octave music has been a good way to keep up our ringing skills during a time when duet performances haven’t really been happening. The urge to rehearse for events that aren’t taking place… well, it just isn’t there. So these “full choir” videos have been a fun alternative for us!

More information about Kingsfold

Kingsfold is for 3-5 octaves of handbells, with optional 2-octave handchimes. If you’d like to play it, the sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.

When you buy Choraegus handbell music, the music score 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. When you’ve downloaded your music, your one-time payment entitles you to print up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full information. If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide, which we designed to take you through the process in a stress-free way!

Other versions of this piece

An unaccompanied arrangement for 8 handbells

An arrangement for 6 handbells and piano

Any questions?

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

Kingsfold for handbells

God Be With You Till We Meet Again

“God be with you till we meet again,
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you,
God be with you till we meet again.”

God Be With You Till We Meet Again is our latest arrangement for 16 handbells. We were reminded of this hymn recently, when we drove up north to Bay View and walked in the Memorial Gardens there. Bay View (near Petoskey) is where the annual Week of Handbells takes place, and where we spend a week each year gathering with friends old and new, to rehearse and perform handbell music in a beautiful lakeside setting. Our recent visit was a particularly poignant one, as we’d just heard about the passing of Maestro Carl Wiltse, who directed the Bay View Week of Handbells for many years.

Last year’s Week of Handbells was cancelled because of the pandemic — and, sadly, the 2021 event has been cancelled too. We now have to wait until 2022 to see many of our Bay View friends again. Given the amount of preparation time that goes into this annual event, it was the wisest decision, but we’re looking forward to a joyful reunion next year.

God Be With You Till We Meet Again was written by Jeremiah Rankin in 1882. He composed it so his church choir could have something to sing as they said their goodbyes each week. It has become a popular hymn to sing at gatherings, and it’s traditionally sung at the final Sunday Vespers at Bay View every August, as the music season draws to a close and visitors bid their farewells until the next year.

Suitable for socially-distant handbell ensembles

If your handbell ensemble is observing social distancing, our 16-bell arrangements could be useful. God Be With You Till We Meet Again has no bell changes, and needs no bell-sharing. It’s suitable for up to 8 ringers to play, and doesn’t require any techniques that need tables or foam.

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

More information about Choraegus handbell music

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. Don’t pay for more copies than you need! Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. In addition, please mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our sheet music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. 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, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide, designed 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!

God Be With You Till We Meet Again - handbells

Sandmännchen – New 8-Bell Music from Choraegus

Sandmännchen, also known as Die Blümelein sie schlafen, was written by Johannes Brahms. Its title translates as The Little Sandman.

Our demonstration video is another one that we recorded early last year. Larry was due to have his shoulder surgery, so we spent some time recording as many of our new 8-bell pieces as we could. This was one of the last recordings we made before Larry’s arm went into a sling and he started writing music for just 6 bells!

This arrangement has no bell-sharing, no picking-up of accidentals during the piece, and no need for tables. We demonstrate it as a 4-in-hand duet, but there are no special techniques written into the score, so it could also be suitable for a trio or quartet to play.

How to purchase the sheet music

If you’d like to play Sandmännchen, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print up to four copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. Your purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials.

Please also note that our music is designed as downloadable PDFs. 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. If someone has asked us a question even once, it will be there. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll be happy to help.

Sandmännchen - handbells

New from Choraegus – Handbell Music Practice Tracks

Larry’s been busy in recent weeks! Well, we know he’s been busy driving to and from Ann Arbor for radiation treatment, but he’s also been busy with a new project for Choraegus – practice tracks!

This idea was suggested to us by a friend, who also happens to be a customer! We now have practice tracks available for most of our unaccompanied small-ensemble handbell scores (up to 16 bells).

What exactly are the practice tracks, and why might they be helpful?

For a small cost, you get a piano+click track audio version of the score. So you’ll hear the tune, along with a guiding metronome sound. Each click track starts two bars before the first full bar of music (like counting in!) Then beat 1 of each bar is accented slightly, to help you to play along with the score.

These practice tracks could be helpful if you want to rehearse your part of an arrangement on your own, without the rest of the ensemble. For example, if you’re playing an 8-bell duet, you’ll be able to play your part, and hear the whole piece as you play, even if your duet partner isn’t with you. If you’re directing a 12- or 16-bell ensemble and you won’t have much time to rehearse together as a group, your ringers can each rehearse separately along with the practice track.

If you need the tracks at a slower tempo as you start rehearsing, you can download a playback app such as AudiPo or the Amazing Slow Downer, and change the speed of the track to meet your needs.

Make sure you buy the right track!

For our “dual-range” scores, there are separate practice tracks for the G5-based and F5-based scores in the package. We suggest purchasing the music first (the “Score Package). Next, decide whether you’re going to play the G5-based version or the F5-based version. Then come back later and get the practice track to match!

Here are the options, as shown on the screen for an 8-bell arrangement:

practice tracks for handbell music

Here are the options for an 8-bell arrangement that has a standard and a surprisingly-easy version. Choose carefully!

practice tracks - Choraegus

Any questions/problems?

If you have any questions about these practice tracks, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help. This is a very new project, so if you buy a practice track and it doesn’t work as expected, please let us know, and we’ll fix it for you!

16-Bell Music – Holy, Holy, Holy – Played as a Duet

16-bell music has been a fairly recent recording project for us. It’s been an exciting challenge to put together some new demonstration videos.

Holy, Holy, Holy is our latest arrangement for sixteen handbells. We enjoyed recording this piece as a duet project, and we love how pretty the snow looks in the background!

This arrangement is straightforward to play, and contains no bell changes and no accidentals to pick up mid-piece. There are no techniques that require tables, so it’s suitable for a socially-distanced group to play from music stands.

If you’d like to play Holy, Holy, Holy, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Other 16-bell music is also available. If you don’t see the title you’re looking for, please let us know, and we’ll see what we can do!

More information (the small print)

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. Don’t pay for more copies than you need! Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. In addition, please mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our sheet music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs, so 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, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide, designed to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

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 do what we can to help!

New 8-Bell Music for Worship and Weddings – St. Anthony Chorale

As Thanksgiving approaches, we’ve been thinking about hymns suitable for worship services at this time of year. Our latest 8-bell arrangement, the St Anthony Chorale, is mostly known as a classical piece. It’s perfect for wedding ceremonies, and for use in worship. It’s the setting for the hymn We, Thy People, Praise Thee, with lyrics by Kate Stearn Page.

We recorded our demonstration video of St. Anthony Chorale in October, in our chilly summer cottage near Petoskey. This arrangement is straightforward to play, and has no bell-sharing, no picking-up of accidentals during the piece, and no need for tables, which makes it particularly suitable for a small group of socially-distanced musicians. It could be played by two, three or four ringers.

If you’d like to play St Anthony Chorale, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs, so 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, you might like to look at 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 answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

St Anthony Chorale for handbells

New Music for 8 Handbells and Piano – For All the Saints

“For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!”

By special request, here’s an accompanied 8-bell arrangement of For All the Saints. With the much-loved hymn tune Sine Nomine, written by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906, this is a popular choice for All Saints’ Day on November 1st. Our demonstration video was recorded at our Victorian summer cottage at Bay View, Petoskey, on a chilly October Sunday, with rain pelting down outside.

As with all our 8-bell arrangements, this piece involves no bell changes, no picking-up of accidentals, and no shared bells. There’s no need for tables, making it suitable for a socially-distanced handbell group, playing from music stands.

Information about downloadable music from Choraegus

If you’d like to play For All the Saints, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. We also have an mp3 file available to purchase separately; useful if you don’t have an available accompanist, or for rehearsal purposes.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing an 8-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites, church websites and social media. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, and in any printed materials such as church service bulletins.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide, designed 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 answer you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

The Bay View Memorial Garden, near Petoskey, Michigan

Shall We Gather at the River – a New Arrangement for 8 Handbells and Piano

Following on from our popular arrangement of Be Thou My Vision, here’s our latest 8-bell title, Shall We Gather at the River?, arranged for handbells and piano. This beautiful hymn was written in 1864 by Robert Lowry.

“Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod;
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.”

This arrangement has no bell changes, and no tables are required. It could work well for playing in a worship service, with ringers playing from music stands, spaced apart to allow for social distancing.

Interested in playing this arrangement?

If you’d like to play Shall We Gather at the River, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately; perfect if you don’t have a willing accompanist, or want to rehearse at home.

Please read the following information:

Choraegus music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing an 8-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score. Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, and in any printed materials.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide, designed to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

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 answers you need, and we’ll be happy to help!

Shall We Gather at the River - handbells

New Handbell Music – Be Thou My Vision – for 8 Bells and Piano

Our 8-bell arrangement of Be Thou My Vision was commissioned earlier this summer for the Jubilate Ringers at St Anne’s Episcopal Church in Damascus, Maryland. The Irish hymn tune SLANE is also the setting for the popular hymn Lord of All Hopefulness. We enjoyed making the demonstration video of this accompanied arrangement; it’s the first 8-bell duet we’ve played since Larry had his shoulder surgery in May!

“Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light“

Your handbell choir could play this arrangement as a duet or trio, or as a quartet with each ringer holding two bells. There are no bell changes, and there are no techniques that need tables or foam. This piece could be ideal for playing from music stands, spaced apart to allow for social distancing.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play Be Thou My Vision, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately. This can be useful if you don’t have a willing accompanist, or want to rehearse at home.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing an 8-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites, church websites and social media. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, and in any printed materials.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this 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. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help!

Be Thou My Vision - handbells and piano accompaniment