“I vow to thee my country, all earthly things above, Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love. The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test, That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best. The love that never falters, the love that pays the price, The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
And there’s another country I’ve heard of long ago, Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know. We may not count her armies, we may not see her king, Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering. And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase, And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace.”
I Vow to Thee, My Country is a much-loved British patriotic hymn. Sir Cecil Spring Rice wrote the lyrics, and Gustav Holst set them to music. The melody is adapted from a section of Jupiter from Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets. Nowadays, you might recognise it as the hymn tune THAXTED.
A much-loved patriotic hymn
I Vow to Thee, My Country has strong associations with Remembrance Sunday. Its patriotic text has ensured that it remains popular today. It was sung at the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965, and at the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981. It was also sung at the funeral of the Princess of Wales in 1997, and at the memorial service ten years later. In 1982, Michael Perry wrote an alternative text for the THAXTED melody; O God Beyond All Praising.
We first performed our arrangement of I Vow to Thee, My Country on our last Sunday at Los Altos United Methodist Church, before we moved from California to Michigan. We played it in concert for the first time in Warner Robins, Georgia and again in concert at the Handbell Musicians of America Area 5 Festival on Mackinac Island, and at the recent Area 8 Festival in Omaha, Nebraska. It’s not the easiest of our 8-bell arrangements! The middle section took us a while to learn, and still has the ability to surprise us sometimes. Still, it’s been a fun challenge.
Would you like to play this piece?
If you’d like to play I Vow To Thee, My Country, the sheet music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, we recommend our step-by-step guide. Please also note that our music is designed to be downloaded for you to print at home. You won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing this 8-bell arrangement gives you permission to print up to 4 copies for your group; you only need to pay once.
Any questions?
If you have any questions, please check our Frequently-Asked Questions! If you don’t find the answer you’re looking for, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help!
Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell duets to entertain residents and their families at a care center in Holland, Michigan. This is a private event.
Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell duets to entertain residents and their families at a care center in Holland, Michigan. This is a private event.
We had lots of fun with the Area 8 BronzeFest choir at the “Bring It! Ring It!” Festival in Omaha, Nebraska. One of the highlights, for us, was having the opportunity to hear three of Larry’s original handbell compositions performed live; two of them for the first time ever!
Our thanks go to the members of the HMA Area 8 BronzeFest Ensemble for all the hard work they put in before the event, so that we could make the most of our limited rehearsal time together. Here are the three original compositions that were performed at the concert:
This piece was inspired by a certain sign that we used to drive past when we were living in California, and it’s fun to play! It’s not crazy-difficult either; the rhythms are easy to pick up, and everyone seemed to enjoy it – including the bass ringers! The cajon part was written and performed by Alex Guebert.
“Rescue does not occur only through great violence and clamor; sometimes it is a candle seen from the midst of terrible darkness”.
Larry wrote this piece fairly recently, and dedicated it to Carla. We didn’t manage to get a recording from the BronzeFest concert performance, but this “work in progress” rehearsal video will give you a good idea of how it sounds. This sensitive piece was well received at its first performance, and the sheet music is now available from Choraegus.
This piece was written in 2015, for the Siskiyou Summit Handbell Conference in Ashland, Oregon, where it received its first performance. There should have been a recording of that performance, but between us we failed to make it happen. Carla pushed the “on” button on the video recorder five minutes before the performance, to make sure it didn’t get forgotten. A minute before the performance, Larry pushed the “on” button, effectively turning off the camera and making sure that there would be no recording. Booooo.
Anyway, we also failed to get a recording from the Area 8 BronzeFest concert. We did manage to get a video of one of the rehearsals, though. There were a few glitches, but you’ll get the idea. Thanks to Lily Acatina, who stepped in to sight-read the trumpet part on keyboard at this rehearsal.
This piece is also available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
BronzeFest at the HMA Area 8 Festival in Omaha, Nebraska – June 2018
At the HMA Area 8 Festival in Omaha, we told lots of people: “You’ll find all that information on our website!” We’ve now put all the information together in one place, to make it easy to find.
Bass Handbell Techniques
If you were at Larry’s class on Bass Techniques, or Bass Layout/Teamwork, and you’d like to learn more, you can find out everything you need to know and more by reading The Bass Ringer’s Notebook. This book is available for purchase from Choraegus. If you order a copy, wherever you are, you’ll be able to hear us rejoicing here in Michigan. We’ll lovingly package up your book, and will make a special trip to the Post Office to mail it to you. Truly, we will appreciate you forever. If you missed Larry’s classes, maybe it’s even more important to buy his book!
The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – 2nd Edition. So much prettier than the 1st edition!
British-Style Four in Hand Ringing
If you went to one of Carla’s British-Style Four-in-Hand classes, and your hands forgot everything the minute you left the room, or if you missed the classes but still have some curiosity about this strange alternative multiple bell technique – do not fear. You can find more information (with extra pictures) in this detailed article on our site. If you’re wondering where you can find that free download of Happy Birthday to practise your newfound skills without spending any money, you can find it here!
Adventures in 8-Bell Music
If you enjoyed our 8-bell music class on Saturday morning, or if you missed it and would like to know more, you can find lots of 8-bell music available for purchase from Choraegus. Please note that our sheet music is designed to be downloaded and printed out by YOU. We recommend reading our step-by-step guide to make the process easier. Don’t sit and wait for the music to arrive by mail, because it won’t reach you that way. Once you’ve purchased the music, you are allowed to print out a certain number of copies for your group. Don’t pay for more copies than you need!
Questions about anything in our classes?
If you have questions about anything you heard in any of our classes, or anything you wish we’d covered, or problems with any of the techniques we demonstrated, you’re always welcome to get in touch with us.
Our 8-Bell Duet Concert
Many of the pieces we performed at our lunchtime concert on Friday are available for purchase and download from Choraegus. A few of the pieces haven’t yet been published – for example Creator of the Stars of Night and Calliope House. However, we plan to make them all available before the end of this year. We’re hoping to get new Advent and Christmas pieces published by the end of August, once we’re back from our annual trip to the Bay View Week of Handbells.
We had so much fun at the HMA Area 8 festival! Several people asked us if we’re available for further concert performances, and events such as worship services and weddings. The answer is yes, we are, so if you’re interested in booking us for an event in the future, please contact us!
Our 8-Bell Duet Concert at the Area 8 festival
BronzeFest
We had a great time with the Area 8 BronzeFest Ensemble – Larry directing and Carla playing. Three of the pieces performed in the concert were original compositions written by Larry. You can find A Minor Crash, Rescue and The Final Crossing on our music site, along with many other compositions and arrangements for handbell choir. We’re also pleased to be able to present Susan T. Nelson’s beautiful Elysium, which was also performed by the BronzeFest Ensemble.
Any questions about our music?
If there’s anything you’d like to ask, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help!
We enjoyed our trip to the Area 8 Festival in Omaha!
The last time we’d been in Omaha was for the River City Radical Ring in 2013. We were very happy to be invited back to direct, perform and teach at the 2018 event. Besides, what’s not to love about a 600-mile road-trip?
Larry just loves a road trip!
Lots of driving!
The journey from Holland, Michigan took us more than ten hours, and we were glad we’d decided to travel the day before the festival! We arrived in Omaha in plenty of time to enjoy an evening concert by Rezound! Handbell Ensemble before settling in for the night.
We made it to Omaha!
Music and classes at the Bring It! Ring It! festival
The festival began on Thursday. Larry was looking forward to directing the BronzeFest ensemble, preparing for a Saturday afternoon concert. The chosen pieces for BronzeFest were: Festival Sanctus (Cathy Moklebust), Elysium (Susan T. Nelson), Rescue (Larry Sue), Sympatico (Jason Krug), Song of the Flowers (Kevin Mazimas Ko), The Final Crossing (Larry Sue) and A Minor Crash (Larry Sue).
With repertoire like that, there was work to do, but it was wonderful to see how well prepared the BronzeFest participants were. It meant that we could use our limited rehearsal time together to do more than just learn notes. Much progress was made between the first rehearsal on Thursday and the concert on Saturday.
The Area 8 Board of Directors had done a great job of organizing for festival participants to be able to attend a wide variety of classes in addition to rehearsals. There were classes with such titles as “Processionals”, “In-Depth Score Study”, “If Bells Grew on Trees” and “There’s More than One Way to Peel a Banana”. Carla taught several classes on British-Style Four-in-Hand Ringing, and Larry taught classes on Ringing Bass Bells and Bass Bell Layout.
One of Larry’s Bass Handbell Techniques classes
A concert by Timbré from California
Thursday ended with a banquet for all festival participants, followed by a concert presented by Timbré, a lyrical percussion ensemble based in Southern California. Their program, entitled “She Dreams the Stars” featured poetry, live and electronic music, and dance, telling the story of a young woman on a journey of discovery. The show was entertaining and thought-provoking, the costumes were sparkly, and it was good to see our friends from Timbré again. Some of them had played handbells at our wedding in California back in 2012!
Timbré – She Dreams the Stars
Our handbell duet concert
Friday was the day of our own 8-bell duet concert. We’d chosen some of our favourite pieces from the repertoire we’d used for the opening concert at the Area 5 Festival on Mackinac Island earlier this year.
Our 8-Bell Duet Concert at the Area 8 festival
The pieces we played were: Creator of the Stars of Night, Holy Manna, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, What Child Is This, Sakura, I Vow to Thee, My Country, Calliope House and To God Be the Glory – all arranged by Larry Sue, and all using only 8 bells each (but not necessarily the same eight!) We appreciated the kind and positive comments we received after our concert. It was interesting to find that there were many people who hadn’t previously imagined that so much music could be made using so few bells!
Showcase concerts
On Friday afternoon, we enjoyed a showcase concert – by Des Moines Concert Handbells (directed by Patrick Gagnon) and A Lovely Shade of Blue Handbell Duet. Lauren and Eric are skilled musicians, and most of their pieces used three octaves of bells. However, their first piece was our 8-bell arrangement of Angus MacDonald’s lively slip jig Chloe’s Passion. Our only regret from the festival is that we didn’t find a few spare moments to try playing it together as a double duet!
Yay! Two handbell duos in the same place!
Adventures in 8-bell music!
Saturday was the final day of the festival. Our day started at the ridiculously early time of 8:00am, so we needed coffee for our “Adventures in Eight-Bell Music” class! We enjoyed introducing people to the idea that it’s not always necessary to use dozens of bells to make music that’s worth listening to.
Larry directs a read-through of “Kingsfold” at our 8-Bell Music class on Saturday morning
We enjoyed a HymnFest presented by River City Ringers, directed by Joyce Miller. The group had commissioned a piece from Cathy Moklebust in Joyce’s honor, and had somehow managed to rehearse it in secret. What a wonderful surprise that turned out to be!
After one more rehearsal, it was time for the BronzeFest concert, which was so much fun! All seven pieces went well, and we think (hope!) everyone enjoyed the experience. Here’s a recording of the final piece in the program – Larry’s original composition A Minor Crash:
Special thanks go to Alex Guebert for writing and playing a cajon part for A Minor Crash, and to Lily Acatina, who stepped in at the last minute to sight-read the trumpet part in The Final Crossing on keyboard. Both these musicians are members of Timbré, and we appreciated their willingness to share their talent at short notice.
The final festival concert
After the BronzeFest concert, we had just one more class each to teach, then we were free to relax at the Festival Concert, directed by Tim Waugh and Barbara Meinke. The festival participants performed a varied concert of music ranging from O Worship the King (Michael Mazzatenta) to the Sesame Street Theme (Michael Glasgow) – and we enjoyed it all! The concert was accompanied by the buzzing of various audience members’ phones, as flash-flood warnings appeared and thunder rumbled overhead! We finished the evening with a reception and an opportunity to catch up with some of the friends we hadn’t seen for a while – including Tim Waugh. He and Carla had previously met at a handbell event in England in 2009!
With Tim Waugh at the end of the festival
Thanks to everyone involved!
Our thanks go to the Handbell Musicians of America Area 8 Board for inviting us to be part of this wonderful event. Thanks also to everyone who participated in the BronzeFest Ensemble or attended our classes. We felt very welcome as visitors to HMA Area 8. We hope we won’t have to wait another five years before we make it to Nebraska again!
We’ll be presenting a short 8-bell duet concert on Friday, June 29th at 12:00pm, at Bring It! Ring It! – the 2018 Handbell Musicians of America Area 8 Festival in Omaha, Nebraska. We only have half an hour at lunchtime for this concert, so we’re including just a few of our favorite pieces. There will be a mixture of well-loved hymns, traditional melodies, and an Advent carol thrown in, even though it’s completely the wrong time of year for it. Here’s the program!
If you can’t be at the concert…
We hope to see you at the concert! If you won’t be at the Area 8 Festival, you might enjoy our YouTube channel, where you’ll find lots of our handbell duets.
Alternatively, why not consider hosting a handbell concert? We can bring a concert of handbell duets to your church, and combine it with playing during a worship service. When you book us for a concert, we take up less room than a traditional handbell choir, and we bring everything we need with us. We have a wide repertoire of hymns and traditional tunes to entertain your audience. Take a look at our reviews, and contact us if you’d like to book us for your event!
Larry and Carla will be adding the music of handbells to the first of Zeeland Community Band’s outdoor summer concerts for 2018. This event is open to the public, and is free to attend, although donations to the band are welcome and appreciated.
