Walking Home is an original Larry Sue composition, for 3-5 octaves of handbells and 2 octaves of handchimes. It’s an upbeat piece, with opportunities to use a variety of handbell techniques, such as malletting, ring-touch, and thumb-damping. The arrangement is Level 3-, and we enjoyed recording our demonstration video.
More information about Walking Home
Walking Home 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 askthat youcredit 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.
“How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can he say than to you he has said Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
In ev’ry condition, in sickness, in health, In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth, At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea — The Lord, the Almighty, your strength e’er shall be.
Larry’s new 8-bell arrangement of the hymn How Firm a Foundation is now available! It’s suitable for 2-4 ringers.
More information about this 8-bell arrangement
Sheet music for How Firm a Foundation 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 or beginning/improving duo 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.
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!
Just a Closer Walk With Thee is the latest 16-bell arrangement from Choraegus. If you like your hymn arrangements with a bit of swing, you’ll love this one! As with all our 16-bell music, it’s designed to show that music for 4-8 ringers doesn’t have to be boring!
More information about Just a Closer Walk With Thee
This arrangement is available from Choraegus in two handbell ranges – C5-G6 and F5-C7. Please check the bells-used charts on the Choraegus page for this piece, to make sure you get the version for the bells you want to play. There are no bell changes, and no techniques that require tables or foam pads. Our 16-bell music is designed to be suitable for groups to play using just music stands.
Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. – so don’t pay for more copies than you need! Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please be sure to mention the arranger of the piece (Larry Sue) and the publisher (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, and we’d love to see a video if you record one with your ensemble!
Please note that our sheet music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. 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, designed 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. You’ll find just about every question anyone has ever asked us, along with answers. However, if you don’t find what you’re looking for, please ask us!
She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain is a popular American folk song, and it’s now available to play on handbells!
“She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes, She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes, She’ll be coming ’round the mountain, She’ll be coming ’round the mountain, She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes!”
An interesting difference of opinion
Being a couple who started off in different countries/continents, we sometimes have interesting discussions about song lyrics. This one provoked the question: “What happened to the “aye aye yippee” section”? It turns out that at some point in time, an additional chorus was added, and over in the UK, that’s the version Carla grew up with. For anyone who feels that She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain isn’t complete without the aye aye yippees, here’s an alternative version that we’ll refer to as the UK version:
White horses, and the meeting/greeting
Please note that if you need all the verses, we don’t mind if you repeat some sections of this piece. You’re also welcome to change the rhythms to match the lyrics. Our UK arrangement includes “she’ll be wearing pink pyjamas”, but will need a slight adjustment for white horses and the going out to meet/greet her. You get to decide if you need to make any rhythmic changes, and you’re welcome to ask us if you need help with that!
More information about She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain
As with all Choraegus 12-bell pieces, She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain 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. Please take time to choose the version you need (UK or US), and 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 a 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. We don’t want you to 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 too. 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!
It’s the time of year when we start thinking about Christmas music! We have some 3-octave pieces for Christmas and Advent that have recently been added to the Choraegus catalogue. Many of these arrangements are very straightforward to play, and suitable for worship services or concerts. Here’s a demonstration video that gives excerpts from all the available pieces:
If you’re interested in finding out more about these Christmas arrangements, here’s a list of what’s available. Click on each link to find out more about each carol, and listen to the video in full:
This popular Christmas carol is a very accessible Level 2-, with “repeat as many times as you need to” verses, available to download at a bargain price for your handbell choir!
A straightforward 3-octave arrangement that you can repeat as many times as you need to, making it easy to learn and play in a short amount of time. It’s a very accessible Level 2 arrangement of a popular traditional Christmas carol.
Set to the Welsh tune HYFRYDOL, this popular Advent carol can also be used with other hymn texts for other times of year, such as Alleluia! Sing to Jesus and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling. This is a straightforward arrangement for 3 octaves.
This is a straightforward, single verse, “repeat as many times as you need” arrangement of this popular Christmas carol, available for 3 octaves for a bargain price!
This is a very straightforward arrangement of the popular Christmas carol, for 3-octave handbell choirs. Quick to learn; a simple one-verse, “repeat as many times as you need to” arrangement at a bargain price.
This is a straightforward arrangement of the hymn tune MARGARET. Just repeat the verse and refrain as many times as you need to!
Other Christmas music suitable for 3 octaves of handbells
There are several other Choraegus Christmas arrangements for 3 octaves of handbells, including a Level 2 arrangement of Away in a Manger, and a beautiful Level 2 arrangement of Infant Holy, Infant Lowly. There are also some arrangements suitable for 3-5 octaves. If your group is looking for a higher level of challenge for 8 ringers or fewer, you could also consider some of our 16-bell arrangements. Titles include: From a Distant Home, Gaudete, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, O Come, O Come, Immanuel, The First Nowell, and Wexford Carol.
More information about buying music from Choraegus
Purchase of the full-choir license for any of the 3-octave music available from Choraegus gives you our no-fuss permission to print up to 15 copies for your group (8 copies for 16-bell music).
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 will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for downloading the file and 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.
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 on our Facebook page too!
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.
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 askthat youcredit 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.
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 youcredit 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.
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 youcredit 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.
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
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!
“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.
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.
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!
