After a busy Saturday morning of handbell workshops, we presented a handbell duet concert in Madison, WI. The sanctuary at Westminster Presbyterian Church is a beautiful performance space!
We played a whole concert with music using just eight bells at a time, although not the same bells for every piece. You’ll notice in the photo that we used three tables for the concert, even though we were only playing 8-bell music. We decided to do that because then we’d have a place to put our sheet music after we’d played it, and also because we used handchimes for one of the pieces. We don’t actually need a lot of space generally, but when we do have room to spread out, we do appreciate it!
Our concert program
Our concert was designed as a sacred concert. We added a couple of not-quite-sacred arrangements, but most of our repertoire consisted of hymns. Chopsticks was a fun addition; added fairly last-minute because we remembered how the audience had enjoyed it at our recent duet performance in Decatur, MI.
Here’s the program for the concert, listing the pieces we played:
It looks like a lot of pieces for one concert, but we don’t take as much time to reset our bells between pieces as a “standard size” handbell choir usually would, so we can fit more music into the program. We were grateful to Joe Chrisman from Westminster Presbyterian, who played piano for two of our pieces. We’d been rehearsing with an mp3 backing track played on a phone, so it was a real treat to have an actual pianist with us!
Here’s a video of Amazing Grace, with thanks to Larry’s brother Aj, who was at the concert:
Our 8-bell music
All of our 8-bell music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. The helpful thing about Choraegus handbell music is that (with very few exceptions) it comes with fuss-free permission for performance, broadcasting and live-streaming. No one need worry about applying for separate licenses to perform or broadcast the pieces. We want to make it easy for other handbell ensembles to be able to perform our music too!
We’re thankful to everyone who came to our handbell concert in Madison. It was our first time performing there, and we appreciated the warm welcome we received. After the concert, on the Sunday morning, we played in two church services in Madison. We played prelude and offertory music at Covenant Presbyterian Church, then drove back to Westminster Presbyterian in time for offertory and postlude there. We’d had some doubts about being able to play in both services, but it turned out to be no problem at all, since the organizers Joe and Melissa had worked out the timing of everything so perfectly. The two churches were only a 6-minute drive apart, and we weren’t even out of breath when we arrived at Westminster. Playing in worship on the Sunday morning was a nice way to end our visit to Madison, before starting our long drive back to Michigan.
During our stay in Madison, we were able to visit the Wisconsin State Capitol building, which was opened in 1917. It’s a fascinating place to visit. When the trip was over, we drove back to Petoskey through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, stopping at various places along the way. If you’d like to see more photos from our trip, take a look at our Facebook page!
Thanks again to everyone who made this Handbell Weekend possible. We hope to visit Madison again someday!
Last weekend’s Handbell Weekend in Madison, WI was a lot of fun! The event was organised by two churches — Westminster Presbyterian and Covenant Presbyterian — who invited us to visit Madison and lead workshop classes on various handbell topics. We appreciated the opportunity to talk about handbells for an entire morning, with around 40 workshop participants from churches and community groups in the area. We taught five classes between us, and shared a lot of information during that time.
Larry’s Bass Handbell Class
Larry’s class for bass ringers aimed to answer questions submitted by workshop participants before the event. He covered topics such as: how to lift bass handbells safely, how to assign parts when short-handed, bell placement on the table to avoid weaving, and how to use mallets effectively. The session also included an photo opportunity with bass shelleys; a chance for all the class participants to demonstrate their ability to hold two bass bells at the same time!
Notes for class participants: If you were at Larry’s class on Bass Ringing, and you’d like to learn more, you can find out everything you need to know and more by reading his very own book, The Bass Ringer’s Notebook. This book is available for purchase from Choraegus. If you were at the workshop and you regret not buying the Notebook at the special discount price, get in touch with us, and we’ll arrange to make that possible (although you’ll still need to pay for shipping). Alternatively, use the coupon code given out at the event to save 20% on Choraegus purchases.
Carla’s Treble Ringing Class
Carla’s treble ringing class focused on some of the challenges treble ringers face, including topics such as how to make quick bell changes, how to play stopped sounds, and how to make martellato easier.
Adventures in 8-Bell Music
We enjoyed sharing some of our 8-bell music with workshop participants. We talked about the reasons for playing 8-bell (or small group) music, handbell assignment, space requirements, and the challenges and considerations to bear in mind. Then we all enjoyed playing some 8- and 12-bell music together as a group. We were able to add higher and lower bells to fill out the sound, and it all sounded great!
Note for class participants: If you enjoyed our 8-bell music class on Saturday morning, you can find lots of small-group music available for purchase from Choraegus. Don’t forget to use the coupon from the event to save 20% on every purchase!
British-Style 4-in-Hand Ringing
This is not actually an accurate representation of how it’s done, but Carla always enjoys the opportunity to teach other ringers how to play 4-in-hand in the traditional British way. Some of the class participants were trying 4-in-hand for the first time, while others were proficient in the ring-and-knock style most often used here in the USA. Either way, learning a new technique is a challenge, but everyone rose to the occasion and eventually succeeded in making it work!
Note for class participants: If you went to the class, and your hands forgot everything the minute you left the room, you can find more information (with extra pictures) in this detailed article on our site. If you’re wondering where you can find some free music to practise your new skills without spending any money, you can find it here!
Choraegus “Speed Reading” Session
This was a top-speed sight-read though some of the full-choir music available from Choraegus. Some pieces were more challenging than others, but we kept the session low-stress, and just enjoyed making music together as a group.
The following pieces were included in the session. Click on each title to find out more!
3-5 octaves, plus optional 1-octave handchimes, Level 3+. For groups looking for some extra challenge, this is a recent arrangement of the hymn Tell Out My Soul.
3 or 5 octaves and handchimes (3 octaves), Level 4. A fun, mixed-meter challenge for advanced handbell choirs at Christmas, this arrangement has options for suspended mallets, handchimes, and “unusual” bells. There’s also an additional cajón part, available for purchase separately.
All the “thank you”s
We’re thankful to everyone who worked so hard to make the Handbell Weekend a success. Thanks to Joe and Melissa, from Westminster Presbyterian Church and Covenant Presbyterian church for being such wonderful and welcoming hosts. Thanks also to the Madison Area Concert Handbells, who helped so much with the loan of equipment for the event, and to all the participants who came to the workshop and shared in the fun. We hope to be back in Madison to do it all again someday!
It’s been a while since we played handbell duets for an audience; in fact, we haven’t done that since February! Our handbell duet performance in Decatur gave us a chance to visit a new place, and to meet the friendly women of First Presbyterian Church. What a warm welcome they gave us!
The event was a Mother’s Day tea, and we played a variety of hymns and traditional melodies for an enthusiastic and appreciative audience in this small sanctuary. It was an ideal performance space for a small handbell ensemble, and the sound carried surprisingly well, even without amplification.
The 8-bell arrangements we played included Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Greensleeves/What Child Is This, Amazing Grace, Lucerna Laudoniae, To God Be the Glory, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, The Gift of Love(The Water is Wide), and Sakura. We also played our fun arrangement of Chopsticks, and demonstrated our handchimes by using them to play Ma Navu.
All the above arrangements are available to purchase from our music site, Choraegus.
During our handbell performance, we gave the audience the opportunity to ask questions. They came up with some interesting ones! We talked about how we met, how often we rehearse, and about Larry’s experience with ringing bass handbells. We also talked about the Kalamazoo Ringers concert coming up on May 21st in Kalamazoo, and encouraged people to go along and see bass chimes taller than Larry!
After the performance, we all went downstairs and enjoyed a reception with coffee and cookies. We received a kind gift of a little glass rooster and some lovely flowers to take home with us.
Our thanks go to the women of First Presbyterian Church for inviting us to give this handbell performance in Decatur. We hope to be back to see you all again someday!
Boat on Lake Tai (Tàihú Chuán 太湖船) is a traditional Chinese pentatonic song, about Lake Taihu; the third-largest freshwater lake in China. It’s a beautiful, peaceful melody, arranged her for 3-5 octaves of handbells:
More information about Boat on Lake Tai
Boat on Lake Tai is a Level 4- arrangement for 3-5 octaves of handbells, with 2 octaves of handchimes. It’s a peaceful melody, with legato running lines to create a tranquil mood, and it ends with a chord on suspended mallets.
If you’re planning a performance for Lunar New Year, or a concert of handbell music from around the world, you might also like to consider other recent arrangements of Chinese melodies:
Sheet music for Boat on Lake Tai 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 youcredit the arranger (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.
There are days when it takes two hands to pick up those bass bells!
Today is Larry’s birthday! Thank you to everyone who took the time to wish him a happy day on our Facebook page today. We decided to celebrate with a new arrangement of Happy Birthday – for handbells!
More about Happy Birthday – for handbells
Happy Birthday is our gift to you, completely free of charge. You’ll find it in the Freebies section of our music site. There’s also free music for an 8-bell version of Happy Birthday, arrangements of the Doxology, Dona Nobis Pacem, Auld Lang Syne and several other pieces.
There’s no obligation to make any other purchase from Choraegus to get the free handbell music. Of course, we hope you’ll take a look at other titles we have to offer, but if you want to grab the free music and go, we don’t mind at all. It’s a good way to try our music without having to spend any money! We’re hoping this music will prove to be a useful addition to your group’s repertoire.
Instructions for downloading the free handbell music
To get your free sheet music, add it to your cart on the Choraegus site, and click on the yellow “Check out with PayPal” button. Enter your details, and click “Confirm Order” (there’s no need to click on the PayPal button a second time). Then check your email inbox. If the download link doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder, and it might be there.
As always, we recommend that you read the licensing agreement before buying music from us (or claiming your free music), especially if this is your first time downloading music from Choraegus. You won’t receive anything in the mail, and will be responsible for printing your own music.
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 do what we can to help!
Larry – celebrating having made it through another year!
In recent weeks, Larry’s been working on some new 2-octave handbell music. These hymn arrangements were written with the handbell choir at Third Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan in mind; a choir that’s small in number, but high in enthusiasm! The hymn arrangements are designed to be fairly straightforward to play, but still interesting enough for ringers and congregations to enjoy.
Lift High the Cross (CRUCIFER) is a popular Easter hymn:
Be Thou My Vision a beautiful hymn based on an Irish folk tune – SLANE – first published in 1909. It’s also used as the setting for Lord of All Hopefulness. Here’s our 2-octave arrangement:
More information about this 2-octave handbell music
Sheet music for these arrangements is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. Click on the links below!
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 youcredit the arranger (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.
The Flower Drum Song (also known as Feng Yang Flower Drum) is our newest handbell arrangement, following on from Larry’s recent arrangement of Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua). Feng Yang Flower Drum (鳳陽花鼓) is a traditional Chinese folk song, dating from the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644AD).
Here’s our demonstration video!
More information about Flower Drum Song (Feng Yang Flower Drum)
Feng Yang Flower Drum is a Level 4 arrangement for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells. It uses mallets and thumb-damping for to achieve some percussive effects, and is fun to play. This would be a great arrangement for a Chinese New Year celebration!
Sheet music for this arrangement 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 youcredit the arranger (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.
We’re excited to bring you our new arrangement of Jasmine Flower, also known as Mo Li Hua, for handbells!
Mo Li Hua (茉莉花) is an 18-century Chinese folk song. It’s become perhaps the best-known Chinese song around the world. Mo Li Hua was used in Puccini’s opera Turandot, and has been widely performed at international events, including at the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
We’ve loved Mo Li Hua since Larry wrote an 8-bell accompaniment for us to perform with the Peninsula Girls Chorus at the Chinese New Year celebrations in San Mateo, California, back in 2014. Eventually, the song made it onto Larry’s “to do” list, where it sat for a few years, along with many other “bright ideas” and “someday projects”.
Lion dance – celebrating in San Mateo!
At long last, here’s Larry’s arrangement of this traditional Chinese song, for 3-5 octaves of handbells. We enjoyed putting our demonstration video together!
More information about Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua)
Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) is a Level 4- arrangement for 3-5 octaves of handbells and two octaves of handchimes. You could play it without the handchimes, but they definitely add to the texture of the piece. The arrangement also features mallet techniques, both on the table and suspended. The sixteenth-note passages move along fairly quickly, but aren’t as difficult as they may seem, especially as many of them are played with mallets. The singing bell technique is also a feature of this piece.
Sheet music for this arrangement 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 youcredit the arranger (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.
The new year has been here a while now; it’s hard to believe that we’re already well on the way to February. The holiday decorations in our home are still up, including two Christmas trees. We’re obviously easing our way into 2023 rather slowly! The snow has finally returned to West Michigan, and we’re enjoying it!
This is Carla here, by the way, in case you hadn’t realised that. Larry takes care of our Choraegus music site, and I look after “the purple website” and our Facebook page. I’m pretty certain there would be a lot less purple in this website if Larry were running that too. Anyway, something Larry and I haven’t yet talked openly about… is that I’ve recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Yes, it was a bit of a shock to me too!
A hint of troubles yet to come
So, how did it start? Originally, it seems, with random symptoms in 2018, including a sudden (and scary) worsening of my eyesight. At that time I had brain and spine MRIs, and saw various doctors. I emerged from all those medical adventures with a lot of bills to pay, but no diagnosis of anything but optic neuritis. Over the course of a few months, my vision issues became less of a distraction, and life continued pretty much as normal. After a while, Larry’s medical stuff took over, with his diagnosis of prostate cancer, and his subsequent treatment, and then shoulder surgery, then a return of his cancer, and more treatment.
Finally, in 2022, with Larry doing well, we dared to hope that we might get a break from medical issues for a while. We even managed to go to England in July, to see my family for the first time in six years. We caught Covid while we were there, but still managed to salvage a few days of real “vacation time” to spend with family and friends. We’ve since been telling ourselves that we need a do-over of that trip, without Covid getting in the way. We really don’t want to have to wait another six years to see our UK family and friends again!
Enjoying life in sunny Basingstoke!
Unexpected health problems in 2022
I started to experience some weird symptoms in September. Larry and I were at our summer cottage at Bay View, and I noticed that my left leg felt numb. I thought perhaps I’d done too much walking, or had some kind of injury that I hadn’t noticed before. When the situation didn’t improve, I reluctantly dragged myself along to see a doctor in mid-September, and was referred to a neurologist, just in case.
With a neurology appointment safely scheduled for November, Larry and I continued to enjoy our time “up north”. I walked around on legs that felt like Bambi’s (but definitely didn’t look like Bambi’s), and tried not to worry too much. We drove back and forth between Bay View and our home in Holland, and continued with all our usual activities. I had some strange and random symptoms during that time, but I didn’t panic, because I had a neurology appointment booked anyway. No problem, right? A lot of British people are like that, by the way. I tell people that we don’t generally see a doctor unless it feels possible that we actually might not last the day. That’s a joke, but there’s a fair amount of truth in it.
Enjoying life at Bay View. Not shown: wobbly legs
A very scary Halloween
My plan to continue life as normal went badly wrong on October 31st. I woke up that morning feeling as if I’d been drinking – a lot! That’s not something I do, so the feeling of lightheaded wooziness was very unfamiliar to me. My right arm felt as if it wanted to detach itself from my shoulder and float away, and my eyesight had once again taken a turn for the worse. When the situation hadn’t improved by lunchtime, I was concerned enough to go to Urgent Care. I spent several hours having various tests, but getting no obvious explanation for the mystery symptoms. Eventually, I was referred to the ER, in an attempt to “rule out some of the big, ugly things”.
In the ER, still smiling behind the mask
The big, ugly things (and why we missed the trick-or-treating)
Halloween is always such a fun evening where we live. We’d been looking forward to handing out huge amounts of candy and treats to groups of children. Instead, we spent the evening in the hospital, where Larry did some reading, finished a crossword or two, and took a nap… and I had a brain MRI. A few days later, I had a follow-up appointment with a neurologist here in Holland, who confirmed my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Next, I had a spine MRI, three steroid infusions (that sadly didn’t ease my symptoms) and another neurology appointment to talk about the MRI results. It was interesting (in a slightly odd way) to look at the scan images. It turns out that a lot has been happening in my brain and spine since my last scans in 2018!
Starting treatment
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that affects the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), and causes a wide range of symptoms. It’s different for everyone. In December, I started taking medication that’s designed to slow down (or stop) the progression of the disease. This medication is not for the faint-hearted, and comes with a variety of possible side-effects. Potential side effects… or worsening MS symptoms? The choice was clear to me, so taking the medication seemed to be the wise course of action. Once again, we had a stressful time with our health insurance company (nothing new there), and they refused to authorize the medication for me (insert a heavy sigh of frustration here). I’m thankful for the drug company’s Patient Assistance Program for making it possible for me to take this medication, at least for the next year.
Continuing with our busy Christmas!
One thing Larry and I were determined about… was that we didn’t want my new MS diagnosis to get in the way of our holiday performances! We’ve never cancelled a performance yet, and didn’t want to start! Having established that I’m still able to play handbells (thank goodness!), we went ahead with our busy month of duet performances, and had a great time sharing our music with local audiences. December was insanely busy for us. November had been chaotic and stressful, with doctors’ appointments and tests, and we’d never really managed to get ready for Christmas. We decided to make the handbell performances our priority, and let everything else go, apart from making an exciting trip through the snow to cut down our Christmas tree. Apologies to all the people who didn’t get a Christmas card from us in 2022!
When Christmas Day arrived, we spent a quiet day at home together, and that was all we needed.
What happens next?
There are lots of things I can’t do, now that I have MS. I’ll probably never be able to play the flute. I can’t drive a car, or even ride a bike. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever run a marathon. I can’t play the flute or the cello, and my dream of being a superstar harpist will never come true.
Of course, I couldn’t do any of those things before I had MS either. The truth is that I plan to continue doing everything I normally do. I’ll have more neurology appointments in my future, and regular blood tests, and brain and spine MRIs. It’s reassuring to know that I’ll be closely monitored for any changes, but there’s no reason to think I’m going to go downhill any time soon.
Larry and I have dealt with difficult stuff before. We know for certain that we can’t live in “what if…” mode. We have to focus on all the things we can do, and not stress about things that might never happen. We’re both looking forward to more handbell duet performances in the coming months, as well as rehearsing and performing with the Kalamazoo Ringers. In just a few months’ time, we’ll be able to open our summer cottage at Bay View again. If enough snow falls in northern Michigan in the next few weeks, we might even take a bonus drive north. The Victorian cottages at Bay View look so pretty with a covering of freshly-fallen snow!
There’s also the Bay View Week of Handbells in August to look forward to, so I’ll have lots of music to work on in the months ahead. This year’s concert will include two of Larry’s handbell arrangements, which makes the whole event extra exciting for us!
A few words of thanks
Thank you to the handful of close family and friends who’ve kept my secret, and helped to keep my spirits up since my diagnosis. I’ve appreciated your messages of support, thoughtful advice, prayers and smiles. I’ll admit that I was somewhat shaken to receive this unexpected diagnosis, and there have definitely been some frustrations in recent weeks. My way of dealing with frustration is to vent constantly; if I have something to complain about, I’ll have a self-pitying rant, then I’ll feel better. I appreciate the friends and family who’ve listened to my whining/complaining and managed not to bash me with kitchen utensils.
I had originally planned not to share the news about my diagnosis more widely – and I’ve been reliably informed that I “still look fine from the outside” – but I think I cope better with things out in the open. So, now you know what’s been happening, and thank you for reading this far. I’m doing well, and I’m optimistic about the future. MS is definitely not fun, but life is still good. If you have any questions, you’ll find me on our Facebook page!
“When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say It is well, it is well, with my soul“.
It Is Well With My Soul was arranged for First United Methodist Church of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The piece was commissioned in honor of their handbell director, on the occasion of her retirement. Larry is always honored to be asked to write music for someone who’s made a great contribution to their church’s music ministry.
A new handbell director is now leading the handbell choir at First UMC. We wish the group every blessing as they continue to share their music with their church family.
More information about It Is Well With My Soul
It Is Well With My Soul (VILLE DU HAVRE) is a Level 3 arrangement for 3-5 octaves of handbells. Handchimes are optional, but add a beautiful texture to the piece. Sheet music for this arrangement 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 youcredit the arranger (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.
