Category Archives: Traditional and Folk Music

Our 6th Surprisingly-Easy 8-Bell Hymn Collection

Some of our most popular 8-bell titles are the Surprisingly-Easy hymn arrangements. We’re pleased to announce the arrival of our 6th Surprisingly-Easy 8-Bell Hymn Collection!

Surprisingly-Easy 8-Bell Hymn Arrangements from Choraegus

We refer to our Surprisingly-Easy arrangements as “All of the music, but without the twiddly bits”. These arrangements are more straightforward to play than the standard versions. They avoid complicated rhythms, and can be played at a tempo you’re comfortable with. If you’re part of an advanced handbell group, these arrangements should be “pick up and play” pieces for you; useful if you need to put together a performance at short notice. They’re ideal for worship services, contain no special techniques, and are suitable for 2-4 ringers to play. If you’re part of a duo, trio or quartet, or your full handbell choir is unable to play together because of COVID-19 restrictions, these hymns could be what you’re looking for.

The hymns included in this 8-bell hymn collection are:

  • All Things Bright and Beautiful
  • Holy is the Lord
  • In Babilone
  • Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
  • Let All Things Now Living (The Ash Grove)
  • My Song is Love Unknown
  • Linstead Market (the tune used for the hymn Let All Talents and Tongues Employ

Each of these arrangements is also available to purchase individually from Choraegus, our music site.

More information about buying music online from Choraegus

As always, we strongly recommend that you read the licensing agreement before buying music from us, especially if this is your first time downloading music from Choraegus. Please also 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.

Purchasing an 8-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group. For more information, we have a step-by-step guide to purchasing music from Choraegus. This music also comes with permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. Please include the title and arranger (Larry Sue) in any online video link, and in printed materials such as concert programs or worship bulletins.

There are more Surprisingly-Easy 8-Bell Collections available from Choraegus, as well as our standard 8-bell arrangements – some more challenging than others.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please check our Frequently-Asked Questions first. If you don’t find the answer you’re looking for, please get in touch with us, and we’ll be happy to help.

6th Surprisingly Easy 8-Bell Hymn Collection
Also available free – from Choraegus – binder covers for our 8-bell music!

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus – for 16 Handbells

We’ve been enjoying putting together new 16-bell music in recent months. Our latest title is the hymn O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. The hymn tune EBENEZER was composed by Thomas John Williams in 1890 and is also used for the hymn Once to Every Man and Nation.

More information about this arrangement

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus is available in two handbell ranges. The version we demonstrate is for 16 handbells from C5 to B6. Another version is available for G4 to F#6, to make it possible for 2-octave handbell choirs to play. It’s an interesting arrangement – challenging, but worth the effort! The arrangement contains no bell changes, and needs no bell-sharing. We demonstrate it as a 4-in-hand piece, but it’s suitable for up to 8 ringers to play, holding just two bells each. If your handbell ensemble is playing from music stands, or observing social distancing, this would work!

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

Other arrangements of this hymn tune

The following arrangements of this hymn tune are also available to download from Choraegus:

An arrangement for 6 handbells with piano accompaniment;

and an unaccompanied 8-bell arrangement.

More about Choraegus handbell music

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. – so 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. Please be sure 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 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. You’ll find just about every question anyone has ever asked us, along with answers! However, if you don’t find the information you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

Deep Love of Jesus handbells

Sunrise – a Hymn Tune for 3 or 5 Octave Handbells

The hymn tune SUNRISE was first published in the 1768 Supplementum to the Luxembourg Kyriale. In more recent times, it has been used as the tune for William Bright’s hymn At Thy Feet, O Christ We Lay. In 1978, John Richards also used it for his hymn Spirit, Working in Creation. Here’s our arrangement for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, also referred to in our house as “that peck-peck tune”, because of the treble thumb-damps!

More information about Sunrise (Kyriale)

SUNRISE is arranged for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, with 2 octaves of (optional) handchimes. It’s a Level 2+ arrangement. If you’d like to play this piece, the sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.

Things to know about Choraegus handbell music

When you buy handbell music from Choraegus, 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 (for the full-choir copy) entitles you to print up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full information about this. If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the process in a (we hope) stress-free way!

Purchasing this arrangement gives you no-fuss permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. Please take some time to read about what you’re allowed to do with Choraegus handbell music. In these times of live-streaming and online worship services, it’s particularly important that we all understand and follow the laws concerning performance licensing and copyright.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, please look at 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.

Sunrise hymn tune

Battle Hymn of the Republic – Patriotic Handbell Music

People often ask us for more patriotic music,so we’re working on it! Here’s our 12-bell arrangement of Battle Hymn of the Republic, also known (especially outside the U.S.A.) as Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. This one is a real audience-pleaser, and Fourth of July celebrations are only a month away!

Available in two different handbell ranges

As with all Choraegus 12-bell arrangements, this piece has no bell-sharing, and there are no accidentals to pick up mid-piece. The music is available for C5-G6, or F5-C7, so you can choose which range will work for your ensemble. A practice track is also available for purchase; useful if you need to rehearse without the whole group. As there are no techniques requiring tables or foam, this arrangement can be played from music stands. In recent months, many handbell choirs have been observing social distancing, and 12-bell music can work well for this. It can also be great for handbell choirs during the summer months when the full group isn’t available.

Where to purchase the sheet music

If you’d like to play Battle Hymn of the Republic, the sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you buy Choraegus handbell music, please note that it’s designed to be downloaded as a PDF file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so don’t pay for more copies than you need!

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 such as concert programs.

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. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll be happy to help!

Battle Hymn of the Republic handbells

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place – Handbells, 3 or 5 Octaves

“My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed;
I trust the ever-living One, His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea;
it is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.”

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place is a hymn first published in 1891. Eliza Edmunds Hewitt wrote the lyrics, under her pen name, Lidie H. Edmunds. The beautiful tune is the Norwegian folk melody Landås, attributed to Andre Ernest Modeste Gretry and arranged for this hymn by William James Kirkpatrick.

More information about My Faith Has Found a Resting Place

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place is for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, and optional handchimes. If you don’t have the 2 octaves of handchimes, those notes can be played with bells instead. If you’d like to play this piece, the sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.

Important things to know about Choraegus handbell music

When you buy handbell music from Choraegus, 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 (for the full-choir copy) entitles you to print up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full information about this. If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the process in a (we hope) stress-free way!

Purchasing this 3-5 octave arrangement gives you no-fuss permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. Please take some time to read about what you’re allowed to do with Choraegus handbell music. In these times of live-streaming and online worship services, it’s particularly important that we all understand and follow the laws concerning performance licensing and copyright.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, please look at 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.

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place - handbells

Day By Day – for 16 Handbells

Here’s our 16-bell arrangement of the hymn Day By Day. The hymn tune BLOTT EN DAG was composed in 1872 by Oscar Ahnfelt. A while ago, we published a 3- or 5-octave arrangement of this hymn tune, and we enjoyed playing it so much that we decided to make a 16-bell arrangement too.

More information about this arrangement

Day By Day is available in two 16-bell versions – D5-C7 or A4-G6 – so you can choose which range of bells works best for the bells you have. The arrangement contains no bell changes, and needs no bell-sharing. We demonstrate it as a 4-in-hand piece, but it’s suitable for up to 8 ringers to play, holding just two bells each. If your handbell ensemble is playing from music stands, or observing social distancing, this would work!

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

More about Choraegus handbell music

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please be sure 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 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. Just about every question we’ve ever been asked is there, along with answers! However, if you don’t find the answer you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

Day By Day for handbells

All Things Bright and Beautiful – 8 Handbells and Piano

Here’s a new arrangement of the popular hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful, arranged for just 8 bells with piano accompaniment. This lively arrangement is fun to play, but not too challenging, so if you’re looking for a piece that your small ensemble can put together without needing too much rehearsal time, this could be it!

As with all our 8-bell arrangements, this piece involves no bell changes, no picking-up of accidentals mid-piece. There are also no shared bells. You won’t even need tables or foam!

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play All Things Bright and Beautiful, 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 an accompanist, or you want to rehearse alone.

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 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 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. We designed this to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Other arrangements of All Things Bright and Beautiful

Also from Choraegus, we have a 12-bell arrangement and a full-choir arrangement for 3 or 5 octaves.

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 be happy to help!

All Things Bright and Beautiful 8 bell

Kelvingrove – 2-3 Octave Handbell Music

Kelvingrove is a traditional Scottish melody, dating back to the early 18th century. The following lyrics were written by Thomas Lyle, and appeared in Collected Poems and Songs in 1837:

“Let us haste to Kelvin Grove, bonnie lassie, O
Thro’ its mazes let us rove, bonnie lassie, O
Where the roses in their pride
Deck the bonnie dingle side
Where the midnight fairies glide, bonnie lassie, O.

Let us wander by the mill, bonnie lassie, O
To the cove beside the rill, bonnie lassie, O
Where the glens rebound the call
Of the roaring waters’ fall
Thro’ the mountain’s rocky hall, bonnie lassie, O.”

In more recent years, the melody has been adapted for use as the hymn The Summons (Will You Come and Follow Me) with lyrics by John L. Bell – so if you’re familiar with the tune from hearing it in a worship service, that’s why!

Would you like to play Kelvingrove?

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

When you buy handbell music from Choraegus, please remember that the music score 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. When you’ve downloaded your music, your one-time payment (for the full-choir copy) entitles you to print up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full information about this. 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!

Purchasing this 2-3 octave arrangement gives you no-fuss permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing, as part of a performance or worship service. Please take some time to read about what you’re allowed to do with Choraegus handbell music. In these times of live-streaming and online worship services, it’s particularly important that we all understand and follow the laws concerning performance licensing and copyright.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, please look at the Frequently-Asked Questions first, 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.

Kelvingrove - handbells

Stowey – for Handbells, 3-5 Octaves

Have you ever heard the hymn When a Knight Won his Spurs, in the Stories of Old? People who grew up in England in decades past will remember it from school assemblies. Jan Struther wrote the lyrics for the hymn first published in 1931. However, the original tune is STOWEY, so named because it was collected by Cecil Sharp from a man near the village of Nether Stowey in Somerset.

The STOWEY tune is also used as the setting for the Christmas song How Far is it to Bethlehem?, and also for Praise God for the Harvest, with words by Brian Wren. It’s quite a versatile tune!

Here’s our 3-5 octave arrangement, put together in our basement during the pandemic! It’s another sight-read, so it’s a little under-polished, but you’ll get the idea.

More information about Stowey

Stowey is a Level 2+ arrangement for 3-5 octaves of handbells. 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 (for the full-choir licence) entitles you to print up to 15 copies for your group. The arrangement is also available as an individual score, but you’ll need to purchase the full choir version if you want to print enough copies for your whole 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!

Purchase of the full-choir copy gives you the benefit of our fuss-free permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing – so you won’t need to worry about purchasing any kind of performance licence. Please take some time to read about what you’re allowed to do with Choraegus handbell music, and ask us if you have any questions!

If you have questions…

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

Stowey When a Knight Won His Spurs handbells

Winter Dance – for Handbells, 5 Octaves

Our most ambitious recording project in recent months has been this 5-octave arrangement of Winter Dance. Written by Seiichi Kyoda for Uttara-Kuru, this piece was originally performed with traditional and modern Japanese instruments. Here, we demonstrate Larry’s 5-octave arrangement on handbells and handchimes. And look! Carla is actually playing bass bells!

“Winter Dance”, © Chapter One Co. Ltd/Fairwood Music Japan Ltd, administered by MCS America Inc. All rights reserved. Arranged and performed with permission.

More information about the music

Winter Dance is arranged for 5 octaves of handbells, with optional handchimes. If you don’t have the chimes, it works without – but they do add an interesting texture to the piece! It’s a Level 4 arrangement; interesting enough to challenge any handbell choir, but still very playable. If you’d like to play this arrangement, the sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.

When you buy Choraegus handbell music, please note that 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. When you’ve downloaded your music, your one-time payment (for the choir version of the score) entitles you to print out up to 15 copies for your group. Individual copy licences are also available, but if you buy one copy as a preview, you’ll need to come back for the choir version for your ensemble to play it. Please read our licensing agreement for full information. If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide!

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 information you seek, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Winter Dance