Our latest handbell arrangement for Christmas is the traditional German carol How Great Our Joy, also known by the title While by the Sheep. It’s a fun and cheery arrangement for just 6 handbells that will give your small handbell ensemble a great opportunity to practise dynamics!

“While by the sheep we watched at night,
glad tidings brought an angel bright.
How great our joy!
Great our joy!
Joy, joy, joy!
Joy, joy, joy!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!”

As with all our 6-bell arrangements, this piece involves no bell changes, no picking-up of accidentals, and no shared bells. There are no techniques that require tables or foam pads, and it could also be played by three people without needing to use 4-in-hand.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play How Great Our Joy, 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; useful if you don’t have an available accompanist, or for rehearsal purposes.

This carol is also available as a (completely different, unaccompanied) 8-bell arrangement, in two different bell ranges.

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. Purchasing a 6-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to three 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. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!