Tag Archives: 8 bell

New 8-Bell Music for Advent and Christmas

The summer is ending (at least here in Michigan, anyway) and autumn is in the air. It’s the time of year when we start thinking about Christmas and holiday music – and we’re excited to be able to present some new eight-bell titles for this year!

Creator of the Stars of Night

This Advent hymn made it into our concert repertoire this year. We didn’t want to wait for Advent, so we performed it for the first time at the opening concert for the Handbell Musicians of America Area 5 spring festival on Mackinac Island. This hymn was originally written somewhere between the 7th and 9th centuries, and it works really well on handbells!

The Friendly Beasts

This melody first appeared in France in the 12th century, and was a very late addition to our Christmas performance repertoire last year; so late that we only had the opportunity to perform it once – at the Kerstmarkt (European-style Christmas market) in Downtown Holland. We’re looking forward to playing it more this holiday season!

The Cherry Tree Carol

If you’re looking for an unusual Christmas carol, this is a good one. It’s from Cornwall, England, from way back in Medieval times. It’s not difficult to play, and could also work well as a quartet piece.

Hoe lei dit Kendeke/Cold is this Little Child

Since we moved to Holland, Michigan, we’ve been having fun finding traditional Dutch melodies that can be played using just eight bells. This is a children’s carol that’s also sung in Belgium. It’s not difficult to play, and would also be particularly suitable for a quartet.

De Zak van Sinterklaas / Santa’s Bag

This is a cheery traditional Dutch Christmas song that’s been sung by many generations of children in The Netherlands. We found it during our search for Dutch music after moving from California to Holland!

Pat-a-Pan

This French carol was first published in 1720. It’s about the birth of Jesus, and the shepherds celebrating by playing flutes and drums. We don’t play either of those instruments, so here’s our handbell version:

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

We published the US version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear a while ago, but this version is the one more often heard/sung in the UK.

How Great Our Joy

This traditional German carol was unknown to us until we heard it for the first time in church last year. Our version for eight handbells is great for practising dynamics!

Go, Tell It on the Mountain

This popular spiritual is fun to play, particularly if you’re a fan of syncopation!

From Starry Skies Descending

This Italian carol, Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle, is fast becoming one of our favorite carols to play!

This year’s eight-bell Christmas music definitely seems to have quite an international flavour. Remember to check out the other Christmas and holiday titles for eight bells on our music site. There are also some 12-bell Christmas pieces and some new titles for full handbell choir too. We hope you’ll find something you’ll enjoy playing!

8-bell music for Advent and Christmas

Music Binder Covers

Have you seen our music binder covers yet? In recent months we’ve enjoyed demonstrating our 8-bell music and teaching workshops at the Area 5 Spring Festival on Mackinac Island and the Area 8 “Bring It! Ring It!” festival in Omaha, Nebraska.

If you were at these festivals, and you looked at sample copies of our 8-bell music, you might remember that our music binders looked like this:

Music binder covers

Where to find these music binder covers

We’ve had several enquiries, so we decided to make these binder inserts available on our music site. If they’d be useful to you, you can download them free of charge from Choraegus.

We have Christmas/holiday and the-rest-of-the-year versions, for both our standard arrangements, and the surprisingly-easy versions too. Just pick the ones you need and download them, ready for printing.

Also in the Freebies section of our music site, you’ll find free scores to download for your handbell group. This free handbell music can be a great way to try out our 8-bell music without having to spend any money.

Let us know if you have more ideas!

If you have any other ideas for what you’d like to see available on Choraegus, please let us know. We’re always open to new ideas and suggestions!

HMA Area 8 Festival – “Bring It! Ring It!” – Follow-Up Information

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
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!

HMA Area 8 Festival - handbell duet concert
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!

New Music for Handbells – Botany Bay

Here’s our latest 8-bell piece – Botany Bay!

“Farewell to old England for ever,
Farewell to my rum coes as well,
Farewell to the well-known Old Bailey
Where I used for to cut such a swell.

Botany Bay first became popular in theatre shows of the late 1800s, in London, England and Melbourne, Australia. However, its roots may be from an even earlier time! The song describes the period in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when many British convicts were deported to penal colonies in Australia. We have another 8-bell piece about this period of history – Moreton Bay.

How to get the sheet music for Botany Bay

If you’d like to play our arrangement of Botany Bay, the sheet music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

Please remember that Choraegus handbell music is designed to be downloaded. You’ll be responsible for printing the music at home, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. If you haven’t purchased music from Choraegus before, we recommend our step-by-step guide!

Purchasing this 8-bell piece entitles you to pay once, and print up to 4 copies for your group. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please don’t pay for more copies than you need!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, we have some Frequently-Asked Questions that might help. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us!

Botany Bay Handbells

New Music for Handbells – Morning Song

Our latest 8-bell arrangement is the beautiful hymn tune Morning Song. You might also know it as The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns.

We recently performed this piece for the first time at the opening concert for the Handbell Musicians of America Area 5 Spring Festival on Mackinac Island. We’ll be sharing photos and information about that event soon!

Here’s a video of us, recorded a few months ago, rehearsing this piece for the concert:

We’ve enjoyed working on this piece, and think it’s set to become one of our favorites for playing in church. If you’d like to play Morning Song, the sheet music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

More information about buying handbell music from Choraegus

Choraegus handbell music is designed to be downloaded and printed at home. That means you’ll be responsible for the printing, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. If you haven’t purchased our handbell music before, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to help make the process stress-free!

Purchasing this 8-bell piece gives you permission to print up to 4 copies for your group. You only need to pay once, so please don’t pay for more copies than you need! See our licensing agreement for more details.

Any questions?

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

Morning Song - 8-bell handbells
On our way to Grand Hotel for the Handbell Musicians of America Area 5 Festival!

New 8-Bell Music for Christmas 2017

As all handbell musicians know, it’s important to start preparing for the holiday season long before it begins. Here’s some new 8-bell music for Christmas!

Angels from the Realms of Glory

We added this lively carol to our holiday repertoire last Christmas, and it proved to be an audience-pleaser!

From Starry Skies Descending (Tu scendi dalle Stelle)

This is possibly our favorite of this year’s new eight-bell Christmas music. It’s an Italian carol. If you’re a fan of sixteenth notes (semiquavers), you’ll enjoy playing this one!

Joy to the World

This piece was new to us in December 2016, and it quickly became a favorite!

The Seven Joys of Mary

This is a lively English carol, which we very much enjoyed playing for the first time in December 2016.

Sussex Carol

Also known as “On Christmas Night All Christians Sing”, this traditional English carol has an optional repeat section, and is a lot of fun to play. We recorded the video as part of our “A Carol A Day” project for December 2016.

Up on the Housetop

This arrangement is a fun one, mostly straightforward, but with a little triplet challenge in the middle! We recorded this video in December 2016, as part of our “A Carol A Day” project.

The Wassail Song

Also known as “Here We Come A-Wassailing”, this is another traditional carol from England, which we recorded as part of our A Carol A Day project last December.

While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night

This is an arrangement based on the “Winchester Old” tune, commonly used in the United Kingdom. It’s rhythmically straightforward to play, and could be a good choice for a quartet.

These new pieces, together with our other Christmas music for 8 bells, are available from Choraegus. We hope you’ll enjoy them!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music. If you have any questions, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help!

8-bell music for Christmas - from Choraegus
Choraegus – Bringing Music to the People

New Music for Handbells – Linstead Market

Linstead Market is our latest 8-bell piece. We first played this at Los Altos Lutheran Church, a couple of weeks before we left California in the summer of 2016. We didn’t manage to get a recording at that time, but brought the piece out again for our recent concert in Warner Robins, Georgia. Linstead Market is a Jamaican folk song. It’s also used as the tune to the hymn Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ. Here’s a recent rehearsal video, recorded in our home here in Holland, Michigan.

Where to get the sheet music for Linstead Market

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

Choraegus music comes to you as a digital file to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, so you won’t need to wait for anything to arrive in the mail! Your purchase of this 8-bell piece will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.

If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to make the purchase process stress-free! Please also read our licensing agreement.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at some of the Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Our Concert Weekend in Warner Robins, GA

Thanks to all at Christ United Methodist Church in Warner Robins, GA for inviting us to present a concert of handbell duets there.

We arrived in Georgia, and instantly noticed the change in temperature. April in Michigan tends to be a cool month. There’s still snow around in places, and we were totally overdressed for the heat of Warner Robins! Still, we receive a friendly welcome, and were happy to be there for our concert.

Warner Robins - handbell concert by Larry and Carla
Our names in lights. Fame at last!

We played some of our current favorite 8-bell pieces, including several that haven’t yet been published. Here’s the full list of the duets we performed:

Warner Robins handbell duet concert program
Our Warner Robins concert program

After the concert, we played duets during the Sunday morning service at Christ United Methodist Church. Larry also enjoyed the opportunity to be the pianist for the morning!

Larry rehearsing at the piano!

Our weekend also included a trip to Macon to see the Cherry Blossom Festival, and a look at the historic Depot Row in Warner Robins.

Larry and Carla Macon Cherry Blossom Festival
At the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon, GA

Thanks to everyone who came to our concert and made us feel so welcome. It was a tiring and busy weekend, but so much fun!

If you’d like to book us to come to your church and perform a concert, please get in touch with us, and let’s see if we can make it happen!

New Music for Handbells – The Boys of Bluehill

Here’s another one from the archives – recorded during a rehearsal in California in the summer of 2016, before we moved to Michigan. It’s a traditional hornpipe – The Boys of Bluehill.

This tune has an uncertain history. No one seems to be entirely sure if the music is originally Irish or Scottish. Alternatively, it could even be an old American tune that made its way to Ireland and was claimed by musicians there. Either way, it’s fun to play, and not as challenging as some of our traditional Irish jigs. St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching, and this could work well!

Would you like to play this hornpipe?

If you’d like to play The Boys of Bluehill, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you buy music from Choraegus, please note that you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your music will come to you as a PDF file, and you’ll be responsible for printing it yourself. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we highly recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the purchase process in a stress-free way.

Any questions for us?

We’re always happy to answer any questions about buying or playing our music. Please get in touch if there’s anything you need help with!

New Music for Handbells – Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed

Our latest 8-bell arrangement is the hymn tune Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed. It’s interesting to note that the tune (MARTYRDOM) is an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody, originally used for the ballad “Helen of Kirkconnel”, which is now more commonly sung to a completely different tune.

“Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?”

Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed is particularly suitable for worship services during Lent and Holy Week. This arrangement is straightforward to play, and could also work well as a quartet piece.

Where to find the sheet music

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

When you buy music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a PDF file. This means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Don’t pay for more copies than you need!

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might find our Frequently-Asked Questions useful. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed - handbells