June 24, 2024

A Sparrow on Christmas Morning – for Handbells

A Sparrow on Christmas Morning is a poem that was originally written in Swedish by Finnish writer Zacharias Topelius, in 1859. The poem, Sparven om julmorgonen, was translated to Finnish — Varpunen jouluaamuna — and set to music by Otto Kotilainen. This beautiful Christmas song was first published in 1913. It tells of a girl feeding a sparrow that turns out to be the spirit of her late brother.

“Sleep the flowers of the vale underneath the snow
Turned to ice with winter’s grasp, water’s playful flow
A sparrow, a tiny one, cold north wants you undone
Turned to ice with winter’s grasp, water’s playful flow

At the yard of a poor man’s house, a girl kind and dear:
A seed for you my tiny one, a seed for you right here!
Oh, you poor homeless thing, Christmas can’t make you sing
Seed for you my tiny one, seed for you right here!

Heart and wing afluttering, the girl and the bird
Featherlight touch on her palm and a voice she’s heard:
Blessings to you, my dear! Your kindness brought me here
Featherlight touch on her palm and a voice she’s heard

I have lived your life, oh child, and to you I tell
That I am your brother’s ghost, and I knew you well
This seed grown by the sun, a kindness to a tiny one
Gift for your dead brother’s ghost
Still he knows you well

This seed grown by the sun, a kindness to a tiny one
Gift for your dead brother’s ghost
Still he knows you well“.

The power of social media!

This song came to our attention when one of our friends mentioned it on our Facebook page, and asked if Larry could arrange it for handbells. We’d never heard the song before, but quickly fell in love with the haunting melody.

A beautiful, melancholy song for the winter season

Our arrangement of A Sparrow on Christmas morning is for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, with 3 octaves of handchimes. If you don’t have handchimes, you can play the piece without them, of course, but the chimes are particularly effective if you do have them! There’s also an opportunity to use “alternate bells” for the introduction. Our video shows Silver Melody Bells, but you could also use Whitechapel or Taylor handbells, Petit and Fritsens, or even handchimes if you chose to. Alternatively, 5-octave choirs can choose to play the introduction an octave higher. The arrangement is Level 3+, and uses suspended malleting, thumb damps, and shakes in the upper treble bells to represent the call of the sparrow as it shivers in the cold, eats the seeds, and sings before falling asleep. Here’s our demonstration video:

More information about A Sparrow on Christmas Morning

A Sparrow on Christmas Morning is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. You can either purchase an individual copy (useful for massed ringing events, or for preview), or purchase the full choir license. Purchase of the full choir license gives you our no-fuss permission to print up to 15 copies for your group.

Your purchase of the full-choir license allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

We appreciate your help in spreading the word about Choraegus handbell music. If you record a video of your group playing any of our pieces, we’d love to see it. You’re welcome to share it with us by email or on our Facebook page!

Please note that Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a downloadable PDF file. 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, along with the answer. Please contact us if you don’t find the information you need, and we’ll be happy to help.

Sparrow on Christmas Morning - snowy winter scene

March 30, 2024

Danny Boy – Bass Handbell Solo

Did you catch Larry’s recent performance of Danny Boy (also known as the Londonderry Air) on our Facebook page recently? In case you missed it, here’s the video, now available to watch on Vimeo:

Larry first performed Danny Boy as a bass handbell solo at the at the Los Altos Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center in California, way back in 2001. At the time, he was helping out with a young handbell choir Valley Vibrations, based at Valley Church in Cupertino. The group was performing at the rehabilitation center, and since the bass bells weren’t getting much use, Larry was able to do a “test run” of his bass solo as part of that performance.

He performed the piece again at the Handbell Musicians of America Area 12 Conference in 2004, in two locations: Ontario, CA and Honolulu, Hawaii, where David Davidson was the clinician.

Fast-forward to 2024, and after 20 years, it seemed like the right time to get this piece out again, and see if Larry was still up to the challenge of playing it.

Some of the challenges involved in this arrangement

A bass handbell solo will inevitably have its challenges! This piece uses handbells ranging from C3 to A5. The lowest bells weigh around 9 lbs each, and the first section of the piece starts with the melody played on those bells.

The first section was challenging to play, not only because of the weight of each bell, but because of the layout and spacing. You can’t be casual about picking up and putting down bass bells, because if it goes wrong, it could be disastrous. The second section requires concentration, because of the double malleting. Larry modified the layout of the bells in this piece from the way he’d done it in 2004, to add the 4-in-hand option for the final section.

The other challenge, of course, is that Larry is twenty years older than he was when he first played this bass solo! Still, after just a few weeks of practising, he managed to get to the point where he could play the whole thing (more than six minutes) from beginning to end, and that felt like quite an achievement. If you watch the video closely, you’ll even catch a few instances of Larry using the “aerial self-pass” technique to transfer a bell swiftly from one hand to another. It’s impressive-looking with the bass bells!

A few outtakes!

Needless to say, there were a few outtakes before Larry got this one right!

Would you like to play this bass handbell solo?

If you’d like to play this piece, the sheet music is available to download from Choraegus. A piano accompaniment mp3 is also available, which can be useful if you don’t have a pianist available. It’s the same backing track Larry used in his performance.

Finally, don’t forget that The Bass Ringer’s Notebook remains one of the must-have instruction books for anyone serious about bass handbell ringing. The book is available in hard copy only, from Choraegus.

Bass Ringer's Notebook, yellow flowers — The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – available from Choraegus

January 31, 2024

Class information from the HMA Virtual Winter Workshop

The Handbell Musicians of America Virtual Winter Workshop took place last weekend. This was an online event, where participants could sign up to attend online class sessions on Zoom, to learn more about a wide variety of handbell skills. There were classes available on subjects such as Creative Ringing Assignments, Starting a Middle School Handbell Choir, Bells and Voices, Program and Concert Design… and more! We enjoyed teaching two classes on two of our favorite handbell-related subjects; Adventures in 8-Bell Music, and The Low Ding Zone: Bass Handbell Skills. It had been a while since we’d taught on Zoom, but after a training session with HMA experts, and a bit of reading online, we felt as if we were getting the hang of it again.

For anyone who attended one or both of our classes, here’s some of the additional information that was covered in each class:

Adventures in 8-Bell Music: Doing More With Less

During this class, we talked about music written for just 8 handbells. We discussed the reasons for playing 8-bell music, assigning the bells for each piece, options for 4-in-hand ringing, and special considerations like when to damp the bells, how to find the melody, and how to match movements and balance the sound within a group.

We also talked about where to find 8-bell music, and we went through some useful websites to look at, one of which was Choraegus. Group participants asked some additional questions, and we’ve provided some info and links here:

Is 8-bell music suitable for groups of ringers who don’t play 4-in-hand? What Choraegus music do you recommend?

Yes, 8-bell music is suitable for ringers who don’t play 4-in-hand. As we discussed in the class, it helps to choose the right level of music for each group, depending on not only the skills of the ringers, but the amount of rehearsal time available. For handbell quartet groups, we recommend starting with some straightforward 8-bell music, such as the Surprisingly Easy arrangements available from Choraegus. If you browse the Choraegus website, you’ll see that a lot of the hymn arrangements in particular are available in two versions; the standard version and the surprisingly easy version. The easier version will usually contain fewer sixteenth-notes, less syncopation, and less tricky stuff generally. We refer to it as “all the music, without the twiddly bits”. The standard versions of Choraegus 8-bell music range from fairly straightforward to fiendishly challenging, as we discussed in our workshop session.

Are there collections of music available, instead of having to buy individual pieces?

Yes. There are collections available, in both standard and Surprisingly Easy versions.

More information about British-style 4-in-hand ringing

There’s an article on our website that describes the method Carla uses to play 4-in-hand. It has descriptions and pictures!

If you’re find the bells too heavy to play 4-in-hand…

there’s an article on the Choraegus website that gives some information about how you can often use smaller bells to play the music in a range that’s more comfortable for you.

The Low Ding Zone: Bass Handbell Skills

If you’d like to purchase a copy of The Bass Ringer’s Notebook, it’s available from Choraegus.

And, just for fun, here’s Larry’s arrangement of Fairest Lord Jesus, bass handbell solo.

We’d like to thank everyone who came to our workshop classes. If you decide to purchase any 8-bell music (or The Bass Ringer’s Notebook), remember to use the top secret coupon code that was given to you, to get 20% off your purchase, for a limited time only.

Thanks also to Handbell Musicians of America for giving us the opportunity to be part of the Virtual Winter Workshop, and for being so helpful in hosting the Zoom calls and helping us navigate the process! The classes from the weekend were recorded, and if you’re a member of Handbell Musicians of America, you can still sign up to watch all the recordings, until the end of February. Look on the Handbell Musicians of America website if you’d like to find out more!

HMA workshop, Larry Sue with bass handbells

January 15, 2024

Mack the Knife – for Handbells

Mack the Knife was written in 1928 by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, for the Threepenny Opera. The song has been performed by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bobby Darin… and now it’s available for handbells!

It’s dark… but fun!

We really enjoyed recording our demonstration video. As Larry states on Choraegus, this arrangement isn’t for the faint of heart, being a solid Level 5 score – but it’s just SO much fun to play! You can’t necessarily tell from our faces how much fun we were having, but it might help you to know that when we make our demonstration videos, we don’t rehearse first. We just start the camera, start playing, and see how it goes. We may be back with some outtake video from this song! Mack the Knife is arranged for 5-8 octaves of handbells, with 3 octaves of handchimes. The introduction starts simply enough, then there’s a beautiful running sixteen-note line on the chimes… then the fun begins! The subject matter of the original song is dark (look it up if you don’t know it), but there are no lyrics in our version, so you can just enjoy it!

More information about Mack the Knife

Mack the Knife is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. You can either purchase an individual copy (useful for massed ringing events, or for preview), or purchase the full choir license. Purchase of the full choir license gives you our no-fuss permission to print up to 15 copies for your group.

Your purchase of the full-choir license allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

Any questions?

January 14, 2024

Mahler Swing – for Handbells

Mahler Swing is a Level 5 original composition for 5-8 octaves of handbells. We had a lot of fun recording this demonstration video!

The story behind Mahler Swing

Here’s Larry’s account of the story behind the piece, from Choraegus:

“I fell in love with Mahler’s symphonies a long time ago. They’re gigantic works which stretch the limits (so far…) of how musical expression can be built. As of the twentieth century, they represent the pinnacle of orchestral composing.

Mahler’s first symphony is about an hour in length (around three times the length of Mozart’s symphonies, and nearly twice as long as Beethoven’s). Arranging the entire work would result in a very, very large score. The use of thematic material, however, allows a bit of “compression”.

Several decades after Mahler’s time came the Swing Era, with luminaries such as Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Count Basie (and by no means is this an exhaustive list!). This was some of the popular music of the 1930s and 1940s, and the hits from that time endure to the present.

So… the thought crossed my mind: What about melding Mahler and the Swing Era for handbells? The result is the Mahler Swing, which takes elements of the first movement of Mahler’s first symphony and makes them swing. The result is a piece that’s a marvelous earworm!“.

More information about Mahler Swing

Mahler Swing is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. You can either purchase an individual copy (useful for massed ringing events, or for preview), or purchase the full choir license. Purchase of the full choir license gives you our no-fuss permission to print up to 15 copies for your group.

Your purchase of the full-choir license allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

Any questions?

January 5, 2024

Our 2023 Holiday Handbell Performances

2024 is here, and our 2023 holiday handbell performances are finished. As we pack away our carols and start thinking about what’s next, we’d like to thank everyone who helped to make December 2023 a fun month for us!

A quieter-than-usual holiday season

The 2023 holiday season was probably the quietest one we’ve had since the pandemic. We were invited to perform at several events outside Michigan, which would have been exciting. Ultimately, though, we ended up sticking with bookings in an area very local to us. Our run-up to Christmas began with a couple of outdoor performances at the Kerstmarkt in downtown Holland. We always enjoy starting our Christmas ringing at this European-style Christmas market. It’s a fun way to practice ringing for a couple of hours at a time, even in icy weather. This time we even had our photo taken with Sinterklaas! We didn’t actually manage to persuade him to do any handbell-ringing, though.

Sinterklaas and handbells at Kerstmarkt Holland

An event that was new to us in 2023 was the Otsego Hometown Christmas. This was another outdoor performance, and wow, it was cold! It was a fun community event, though, and it was very well attended. The Otsego District Library sponsored our performance at the Hometown Christmas, and we’ll be going back there in April, to give a handbell duet presentation in the library.

2023 holiday handbell performances - Handbell ringers at Otsego Hometown Christmas

Handbell duet concerts and demonstrations

Christmas 2023 marked our return to Freedom Village in Holland; the first time we’d given a performance for the residents there since 2018! We also enjoyed sharing our music with the Century Club in Holland, and for the seniors of Chester Township. We made a return to Hudsonville Library, and also to the Village at the Pines in Grand Haven. The Century Club had requested a demonstration of our 19th-century Taylor handbells from England. Last time we played for that group, our Taylor bells were over in Ireland, being restored. We enjoyed being able to play them this Christmas, because they’re so different from our usual bells. You can see them on the table in the photo below:

Another Christmas performance with the Zeeland Community Band

One of our favorite 2023 holiday handbell performances was the Zeeland Community Band Christmas concert. This band just gets bigger and better with every passing year! This year’s Christmas concert was thoroughly festive, with some really good music by the band. This was how they looked from where we were, at the side of the stage:

2023 holiday handbell performances - Zeeland Community Band Christmas

Advent and Christmas worship services

We enjoyed playing handbell duets in Advent services at Ridge Point Community Church here in Holland. It was fun to play in the service on the first Sunday of Advent, then again in the Christmas Eve services on the Saturday evening and the Sunday morning as Christmas Day approached. We always enjoy the Christmas Eve services at this church, and we approved of the purple lighting this year!

Our final Christmas event of the season was at Glenn United Methodist Church, at the very end of the year. We played a total of six 8-bell duets in that service, to a small but friendly and appreciative congregation. The pastor gave a sermon about bells and Christmas, which we really appreciated. There’s definitely something special about bells at that time of year. Yes, we may be biased, but we believe it! It’s a very special church community, in a historic building, and we appreciated the turn-of-the-century architecture there. We also loved having the opportunity to chat and have coffee with the congregation afterwards. When the service was finished, and the coffee cups were put away, we went for a nice walk around the area. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Glenn (not far from South Haven), you should!

Glenn United Methodist Church, Grand Haven

Thank you to all for your support and encouragement in 2023!

As we start our new year, and look forward to snow finally arriving in our part of Michigan (fingers crossed!), we’d like to thank everyone for your friendship and encouragement in our busy holiday season. If you booked us for a performance, thank you! If you came to one of our concerts, or chatted with us after a worship service, thank you too! To the people who made coffee or tea for us, put money into our tip jar at the Kerstmarkt, or gave us flowers; thank you. If you prayed for us, sent us a Christmas card, or wished us safe travels, we appreciate you too.

Finally, thanks to everyone who bought music from Choraegus, liked or shared videos from our Facebook page, and generally helped to keep us smiling during our busiest month of the year. We appreciate you all, and wish you good health and happiness in 2024!

2023 holiday handbell performances - Larry and Carla

November 13, 2023

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – a new version!

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is a popular 19th-century carol. We recently recorded a brand-new 8-bell arrangement, in the beautiful Crouse Memorial Chapel at the Bay View Association in northern Michigan.

More information about this 8-bell arrangement

Sheet music for It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. When you look at the page on the Choraegus website, you’ll see that there are two arrangements of this carol. This one is Version 2. Make sure you add the correct one to your shopping cart! This version is less challenging than our earlier version, and more straightforward for a trio or quartet group to play.

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 you permission to use this piece in online and live-streamed worship services. 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.

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 with pictures, to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a stress-free way.

Looking for more of a challenge?

If you’re looking for a more-challenging version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, try Version 1, available from the same page on the Choraegus website. This version has a lot more running notes, and is fun to play, but definitely takes a bit longer to get the hang of.

Other versions of this carol available from Choraegus

We did mention that this is a popular carol… so yes, we have other arrangements too. There’s one for 6 bells with piano accompaniment, a popular 12-bell arrangement, and an 8-bell arrangement of the NOEL tune that’s more frequently used in the United Kingdom and other countries. Plenty to choose from!

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!

October 9, 2023

Good King Wenceslas – a new 8-bell version!

“Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel”.

Our new arrangement of the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas uses just 8 handbells, and can be played by 2-4 ringers. We recorded our demonstration video in the beautiful Crouse Memorial Chapel at the Bay View Association in northern Michigan.

More information about this 8-bell arrangement

Sheet music for Good King Wenceslas is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. When you look at the page on the Choraegus website, you’ll see that there are two arrangements of this carol. This one is Version 2. Make sure you add the correct one to your shopping cart! This version is less challenging than our earlier version, and more straightforward for a quartet to play.

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.

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!

October 5, 2023

Angels from the Realms of Glory – for 3 Octaves of Handbells

Angels from the Realms of Glory is a popular 19th-century Christmas carol. Our arrangement of the REGENT SQUARE tune for 3 octaves of handbells is a straightforward Level 2, and it’s available to purchase and download from Choraegus. It’s one of those pieces where you can just repeat the verse as many times as you need to, giving you lots of flexibility for your worship service or holiday performance.

How to purchase Angels from the Realms of Glory

The full choir license for this carol is currently available for the bargain price of just $10! Purchase gives you our no-fuss permission to print up to 15 copies for your group.

Your purchase of the full-choir license also includes permission for you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service without the need for any additional license or fee, although we ask you to credit the arranger (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). See our licensing agreement for full details.

Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a PDF file, which you’ll need to download. 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.

In need of more 3-octave Christmas music?

Your 3-octave handbell choir might also enjoy our recent arrangements of Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming and Jingle Bells! There’s lots more 3-octave music available from Choraegus, so please feel free to look around the website. There will also be more easy 3-octave Christmas music coming soon!

Any questions?

Angels from the Realms of Glory handbells

October 2, 2023

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow – new 12-bell music

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow is the latest handbell arrangement from Choraegus. This African-American spiritual is perfect for a Christmas concert or worship service, and is arranged for 12 handbells.

“There’s a star in the East on Christmas morn;
Rise up, shepherd, and follow;
It will lead to the place where the Christ was born;
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.“

More information about Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

As with all Choraegus 12-bell pieces, Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow is suitable for 3-6 ringers. Sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. Each arrangement is available for three different ranges of handbells, so you can choose which you prefer. Refer the bells-used charts on the Choraegus webpage to make sure you have all the bells you need, and make sure you purchase the right version!

Things to know about Choraegus handbell music

Choraegus handbell music scores are designed to be downloaded as PDF files. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing a 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so please don’t pay for more copies than you need! A practice track is also available separately – useful if your ringers need to practise their parts without the full group being available.

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 arranger (Larry Sue) and the publisher of the piece (Choraegus) on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs. We appreciate your help in getting the word out about Choraegus handbell music – and if you make a video of your handbell choir playing any of our pieces, we’d love to see it!

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!