January 15, 2018

Linda Strouf’s Organ Recital

Yesterday we enjoyed taking part in Linda Strouf’s organ recital Around the Liturgical Year in Chorale Preludes. The recital took place at Grace Episcopal Church here in Holland, Michigan.

Linda has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at Hope College since 1988. She is also the Minister of Music at Third Reformed Church, where she plays the organ and piano, and directs the two adult singing choirs and the adult handbell choir. Linda is a champion of newly composed, contemporary organ music. We were very excited to be part of this recital!

Linda Strouf's organ recital - with handbells — With Linda Strouf after the recital

Linda Strouf’s organ recital was an interesting and entertaining journey through the church year. The audience clearly enjoyed the music!

The three pieces we performed with Linda were: In the Bleak Midwinter, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee and Calliope House. We first performed these pieces in California, with organist and composer T. Paul Rosas, who wrote the organ accompaniments. Handbells and organ blend well together!

In the Bleak Midwinter and Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee are available for purchase and download from Choraegus We haven’t yet published Calliope House, but watch this space!

Many thanks to Linda for inviting us to be part of this recital, and to everyone who attended!

December 12, 2017

Now Available from our Music Site – Gift Vouchers!

UPDATE for 2024:

We regret that we’re currently unable to offer gift vouchers for the Choraegus site, because of a technical issue that’s outside our control. Thank you to everyone who purchased them! We do hope to be able to bring them back at some future date.

We’re excited to introduce something new on our music site – gift vouchers! You can now purchase and download a gift voucher for $10, $20, $50 or $100, give it to a friend, and let them choose their own music from the wide selection of pieces available on our site. It could be an ideal Christmas or birthday gift for the handbell musician in your life!

There’s so much music to choose from!

There are so many handbell titles on Choraegus that it’s sometimes difficult to choose. We have solo handbell arrangements, music for just 6 bells and piano, 8-bell music… all the way up to full-choir music for 5-8 octaves. There’s straightforward music for beginning or improving ensembles. You’ll also find pieces that will challenge even the most skilled and experienced handbell ensembles. There’s something for everyone!

The Bass Ringer’s Notebook

Don’t forget The Bass Ringer’s Notebook (Second Edition), which is also a great choice for any bass handbell musician or aspiring bucket-slinger. Unlike the gift vouchers and music scores, the book isn’t a downloadable file; it’s an actual book which we will lovingly package up and send to you – so order a copy soon if you need it delivered in time for Christmas!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about Choraegus gift vouchers, or about our music in general, please get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.

October 27, 2017

New Music – Five – for 5 Octaves of Handbells

It’s hard to believe that more than five years have passed since our handbell-music-filled wedding in California. What better way to celebrate a wedding anniversary… than with a new piece of music – for 5 octaves of handbells?

Larry wrote Five as a surprise for Carla, and used secret mysterious powers to compose the whole thing without her even noticing.

Our thanks go to the Carillon Choir at Third Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan and their director Linda Strouf for playing this new piece in the Sunday morning services on our anniversary weekend.

More about Five

Five is an original composition; AGEHR level 2+ . It’s for 5 octaves of handbells and (optional) 2 octaves of handchimes. Quite surprisingly, the time signature is not 5/4 or 5/8. However, there are other “fives” hidden throughout the score.

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

Information about buying music from Choraegus

Choraegus handbell music is designed to be downloaded and printed at home. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase entitles you to print up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full details. If you’re new to buying Choraegus music, we recommend our step-by-step guide!

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’re looking for, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help.

5 octaves of handbells - Five, by Larry Sue — Wedding bells!

October 23, 2017

Accompanied Christmas Pieces – for 12 Bells and Piano

Here are two newly-available arrangements for 12 bells and piano accompaniment. Larry arranged these pieces for a UK group led by Meg Hostler of Finchampstead Handbell Ringers. Their debut performances were in England on Christmas Eve 2015.

The arrangements are less challenging than our other 12-bell pieces. Larry arranged them to be easy for a small group to learn and perform with minimal rehearsal time!

Both these demo recordings were made during an all-too-brief “Christmas in February” rehearsal session when we got together with Meg for an Inspiration International reunion during our most recent visit to England in February 2016. The first piece is In the Bleak Midwinter:

The second is the Austrian carol Still, Still, Still:

The piano accompaniment score for Still, Still, Still is the same as the accompaniment that goes with the solo version of this carol.

Would you like to play these pieces?

If you’d like to play either (or both!) of these pieces for 12 bells and piano, the sheet music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

Choraegus handbell music is designed to be downloaded and printed at home. You’ll be responsible for printing your own scores, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. If you’re new to buying our music, please look at the step-by-step guide. We designed this to help make the process stress-free!

Please read our licensing agreement before making your purchase, and read our guide to how many copies your purchase allows you to print. Don’t pay for more copies than you need!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please check 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!

12 bells and piano - Inspiration Handbells

September 28, 2017

New 8-Bell Music for Christmas 2017

As all handbell musicians know, it’s important to start preparing for the holiday season long before it begins. Here’s some new 8-bell music for Christmas!

Angels from the Realms of Glory

We added this lively carol to our holiday repertoire last Christmas, and it proved to be an audience-pleaser!

From Starry Skies Descending (Tu scendi dalle Stelle)

This is possibly our favorite of this year’s new eight-bell Christmas music. It’s an Italian carol. If you’re a fan of sixteenth notes (semiquavers), you’ll enjoy playing this one!

Joy to the World

This piece was new to us in December 2016, and it quickly became a favorite!

The Seven Joys of Mary

This is a lively English carol, which we very much enjoyed playing for the first time in December 2016.

Sussex Carol

Also known as “On Christmas Night All Christians Sing”, this traditional English carol has an optional repeat section, and is a lot of fun to play. We recorded the video as part of our “A Carol A Day” project for December 2016.

Up on the Housetop

This arrangement is a fun one, mostly straightforward, but with a little triplet challenge in the middle! We recorded this video in December 2016, as part of our “A Carol A Day” project.

The Wassail Song

Also known as “Here We Come A-Wassailing”, this is another traditional carol from England, which we recorded as part of our A Carol A Day project last December.

While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night

This is an arrangement based on the “Winchester Old” tune, commonly used in the United Kingdom. It’s rhythmically straightforward to play, and could be a good choice for a quartet.

These new pieces, together with our other Christmas music for 8 bells, are available from Choraegus. We hope you’ll enjoy them!

Any questions?

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

8-bell music for Christmas - from Choraegus — Choraegus – Bringing Music to the People

September 11, 2017

Coronation and Triumphant Exultation is now on YouTube!

We’re excited to be able to share a video of the world premiere of Larry’s original composition Coronation and Triumphant Exultation. The video is from the 2017 Bay View Week of Handbells, here in Michigan.

The Week of Handbells is an annual event; always one of the highlights of our year. We’ve been attending together since 2010. The Thursday evening concert is always an exciting experience. The musicians work hard for months beforehand, and it’s a thrilling concert to be part of. This video is part of the full concert recording by Pierpont Productions.

Would you like to play this piece?

Coronation and Triumphant Exultation (Crùnadh agus Iolach) is published by AGEHR Publishing (AG58002). It’s for 5-8 octaves of handbells, and optional 5 octaves of handchimes.

This piece is the 2017 Donald E. Allured Original Composition Award piece. Larry dedicated the piece to Maestro Carl Wiltse, who directed the Bay View Week of Handbells for fifteen years. Here’s a photo of us with Carl. Yes, he’s a lot taller than we are!

Coronation and Triumphant Exultation - dedicated to Maestro Carl Wiltse — With Maestro Carl Wiltse at Bay View Week of Handbells 2014

Any questions?

If you have any questions about this piece, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help. We hope you’ll enjoy playing this piece!

August 5, 2017

Available Now – the Second Edition of The Bass Ringer’s Notebook!

We’re excited to announce that the second edition of Larry’s book The Bass Ringer’s Notebook is now available for purchase from Choraegus! If you’re a bass ringer looking for tried-and-tested methods or new ideas, this is the book for you! If you’ve never ventured into the world of bass bells before, and want to know how to “sling the buckets” in a way that’s both musically expressive and won’t endanger your physical health… this book is for you too.

More about Larry’s experience with bass handbells

Larry has been a church musician since 1974, and a handbell musician since 1987. He became a bass-ringing specialist when the five-octave bell choir at his church became shorthanded, resulting in a long-term assignment of “CD4, and anything to the left that you can manage.” He’s been a bass ringer at Distinctly Bronze and the Bay View Week of Handbells, and frequently provides instruction as a bass handbell clinician. As the founder, leader, and composer/arranger of Low Ding Zone, the World’s First Bass-Only Handbell Ensemble, he also proved that the upper staff isn’t absolutely essential to the world of handbells. He knows what he’s talking about – so you can buy this book with confidence!

The new edition of The Bass Ringer’s Notebook contains lots of new information and ideas, on such topics as:

Lifting, Ringing, and Damping Bass Bells
Bass Chime Techniques
Table Layout
Assignments
and lots more!

There’s also a new YouTube playlist of the techniques described in the book, which is a great way to see the techniques demonstrated, in real time and in slow-motion. This book isn’t about giving you a single way to play bass bells; it’s about providing practical options and ideas, so that you can choose the methods that suit you personally. Read it, try the suggestions, and see what works best!

The new edition of The Bass Ringer’s Notebook is available now from Choraegus . This one’s not a file to download; it’s an actual spiral-bound book, which we will lovingly package up and send to you after you place your order. It’s taken ten years for this second edition to appear – but, as all bass ringers know, good things are “worth the weight”!

Larry Sue, author of The Bass Ringer's Notebook — Larry at the Bay View Week of Handbells

May 26, 2017

New Music for Handbells – Linstead Market

Linstead Market is our latest 8-bell piece. We first played this at Los Altos Lutheran Church, a couple of weeks before we left California in the summer of 2016. We didn’t manage to get a recording at that time, but brought the piece out again for our recent concert in Warner Robins, Georgia. Linstead Market is a Jamaican folk song. It’s also used as the tune to the hymn Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ. Here’s a recent rehearsal video, recorded in our home here in Holland, Michigan.

Where to get the sheet music for Linstead Market

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

Choraegus music comes to you as a digital file to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, so you won’t need to wait for anything to arrive in the mail! Your purchase of this 8-bell piece will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.

If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to make the purchase process stress-free! Please also read our licensing agreement.

Any questions?

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

May 16, 2017

New Music for Handbells – Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us is our newest 8-bell title. The piece received its first “performance” at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lapeer, Michigan. We played duets during the two morning services, in celebration of Bell Choir Sunday. We were thankful for the warm welcome we received, and enjoyed the opportunity to listen to the Sine Nomine Handbell Choir too!

Here’s a video of us rehearsing Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us in our home in Holland, Michigan.

Would you like to play this piece?

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

Please note that when you buy Choraegus handbell music, it comes 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 will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.

If you haven’t bought music from us before, we highly recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed the guide with pictures, to take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Ask us questions if you need to!

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.

May 5, 2017

New Music for Handbells – Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)

Sakura is our latest 8-bell piece. It’s a Japanese melody, celebrating the season of cherry blossoms.

“Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
In fields, mountains and villages
As far as the eye can see.”

We performed this piece for the first time at our concert in Warner Robins, Georgia a few weeks ago. After the concert, we drove to Macon, for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

We recorded our rehearsal video here at our home in Holland. The music stand was decorated with tulips, because: a) we didn’t have any cherry blossoms; and b) the city’s Tulip Time festival is coming up!

Would you like to play this piece?

If you’d like to play Sakura, 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. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Please see our licensing agreement for full details. Your purchase of this 8-bell piece will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.

If this is your first time buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. This guide will take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our handbell music, you might find our Frequently-Asked Questions useful. If you don’t find the information you need, you’re welcome to contact us. We’ll be happy to help!