Tag Archives: handbell quartet

Free Handbell Music – ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime

Here’s a little holiday gift for anyone who would like to play our eight-bell arrangement of “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime”. We’ve updated the “standard version” for 2015, and this week you can download the score completely free of charge!

Here’s a video of us rehearsing the new version of the piece:

If you’ve played our 8-bell arrangement of this piece before, you’ll notice that most of the changes have been made to the first half of the piece. If you can already play the previous version, you should have no trouble adding the extra notes in the updated version. It won’t feel like having to learn a whole new piece. Best of all, those newly-added notes will cost you nothing!

And if you’ve never played our 8-bell music before – here’s an opportunity to try it without having to pay any money. What could be better? Okay, don’t answer that. There probably are better things. But hey… free music is free music, and we hope you’ll enjoy playing this piece.

To get the music, just go to the “Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” page on our music site. There’s no requirement to “like” our Facebook page. We don’t ask you to buy anything, subscribe to anything or jump through any kind of hoops. Just select the standard version, enter your name and email address, and click on the download button. You’ll receive an emailed link to download your music in the usual way.

Happy ringing!

In the Moon of Wintertime handbells
Christmas handbells

New 8-Bell Music for Christmas 2015!

In the handbell world, our thoughts turn to Christmas and holiday music before most people have even started thinking about the end of the summer. The dilemma is whether to risk being annoying by talking about Christmas when there are still several months to go, or whether to go full-tilt into the festive season, release new Christmas music, and give all the handbell musicians out there plenty of time to practise it before the season arrives. The end of September is approaching. It feels like the right time to introduce our new 8-bell muisc for Christmas 2015.

The following pieces are all available for purchase and download from our music site – and if you click on each individual title, you’ll be taken to the page with more information about each piece, the bells required, and how to make your purchase. Each piece can be played by two, three, four or more people – and we hope you’ll enjoy them!

Angels We Have Heard on High

The First Nowell

Good King Wenceslas

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O Holy Night

Once in Royal David’s City

While Shepherds Watched their Flocks

We hope you’ll enjoy playing some of our new 8-bell music for the holiday season. If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to check out our new Christmas music for twelve bells too!

New 8-bell music for Christmas
The most wonderful time of the year!

New Music for Handbells – O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go is such a beautiful hymn! Today’s our third wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been married for three years! Maybe we’re still experiencing that thing long-distance couples complain about – how slowly time goes when two lovers are apart, and how quickly it flies by when they’re together in the same place!

Anyway, it’s time to celebrate our anniversary – and what better way to do that than by publishing a new eight-bell arrangement? This one is the beautiful hymn O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go. The tune is ST. MARGARET, written in 1884 by Albert L. Peace.

“O love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from our music site. We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do.

More information about buying music from Choraegus

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 permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials.

Please also note that our music is designed as downloadable 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. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go - handbells

New Music for Handbells – I Sing the Mighty Power of God

I Sing the Mighty Power of God will probably be our last 8-bell hymn arrangement of 2015. We need to turn our thoughts to Christmas and holiday music! This hymn tune is ELLACOMBE; the name of a village in England. This tune is also used as the setting for the Palm Sunday hymn Hosanna, Loud Hosanna.

This piece was a lot of fun to learn, particularly in those moments when the repeated notes failed us, and we felt as though we were playing something more akin to “Waltzing Matilda” than the tune we were aiming for. Try it for yourself, and see if you notice the same thing!

More information about the sheet music for this piece

If you’d like to play I Sing the Mighty Power of God, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

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

If this is your first time buying music from Choraegus, you might find our step-by-step guide useful. We designed this to take you through the purchase process and make it stress-free!

Any questions?

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

New Music for Handbells – Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

Here’s our latest 8-bell piece. It’s an arrangement of Hail to the Lord’s Anointed.

The tune is a German folk song: Es flog ein kleins Waldvögelein, sometimes translated as Woodbird. It was first published in the early 17th century. The words of O Day of Rest and Gladness are also sung to this tune.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, the music is available from Choraegus.

When you purchase handbell music from Choraegus, the music score will come to you as a digital download (PDF). That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell hymn arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

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

Any questions?

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

New Music for Handbells – To God Be the Glory

Here’s our latest addition to our 8-bell hymn repertoire – a new arrangement of To God Be the Glory.

We play this as a 4-in-hand duet, of course, as there are only two of us. However, there are no special techniques required, and it’s suitable for 2-4 ringers.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play To God Be the Glory, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

When you buy handbell music from Choraegus, please note that it will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music scores, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchase of this 8-bell piece entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Don’t pay for more copies than you need to!

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the process in a stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please check our Frequently-Asked Questions, in case the answer is there. If you don’t find the information you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

To God Be the Glory - 8-bell

New Handbell Music – our Third “Surprisingly Easy” 8-Bell Hymn Collection

Following on from our first Surprisingly Easy™ 8-Bell Hymn Collection and our second Surprisingly Easy™ 8-Bell Hymn Collection, here is the third Surprisingly Easy collection!

Once again, it’s all the music, but without the twiddly bits. If you’re looking for some new handbell pieces to enhance your worship service, but you don’t want them to take too long to learn, this collection could be the answer. If you’re part of a duet, trio or quartet, or your handbell choir is enthusiastic but small in number, these hymns could be what you’re looking for!

What’s included in the third collection?

The hymns included in this third collection are:

  • Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
  • Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
  • All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name (Coronation)
  • At the Cross
  • Great is Thy Faithfulness
  • Jesus Shall Reign
  • He Keeps Me Singing

How to get the sheet music

If you’d like to purchase and download this hymn collection for your group to play, it’s available from Choraegus. Each of these hymns is also available separately.

When you buy Choraegus handbell music, you’ll receive a link to a digital download (PDF) file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, so you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of the Third Surprisingly Easy Hymn Collection entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.

Any questions?

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

Third Surprisingly Easy Hymn Collection - 8-bell music

New Music for Handbells – Praise Him! Praise Him!

We interrupt our preparations for the Bay View Week of Handbells… to bring you a new 8-bell piece. Here’s Praise Him! Praise Him! This one is fun to play! We recorded it on a beautiful, sunny day in Los Altos.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. We play it as a duet, since there are only two of us, but it’s suitable for 2-4 ringers.

Please note that Choraegus handbell music will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own copies of the score, and won’t receive anything in the mail. If you’re new to buying our music, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this with pictures, to help make the purchasing process as stress-free as possible!

Your purchase of this piece entitles you to print up to 4 copies of the music for your handbell group. Please don’t pay for more copies than you need!

Any questions?

If you have questions, you’re welcome to check our Frequently-Asked Questions, and you might find the answer there. If not, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help!

Praise Him Praise Him - handbells

New Music for Handbells – Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing is our latest 8-bell arrangement. The hymn tune is the pretty Nettleton, which was originally an American folk tune. We played this piece for the first time during our visit to Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church a couple of weeks ago.

We think this arrangement is fun to play, and it’s suitable for 2-4 ringers. The music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

More information about Choraegus handbell music

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 permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials.

Please also note that our music is designed as downloadable 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. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you need, and we’ll do what we can to help!

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing for handbells

New Music for Handbells – Come Christians, Join to Sing

While we were in Soledad for our #Pinnacles15 adventure, we played through some of our brand new, unpublished pieces. Come Christians, Join to Sing is one of these new pieces.

We didn’t want to annoy other hotel guests by playing handbells in our room. So we decided to find another practice location instead. We chose the pretty church of Our Lady of Solitude in Soledad. We played outside the church, as the sun went down and the light became poorer and poorer. Yes, it was pretty, and fairly quiet. No, it was not easy to see our music!

Here’s Come, Christians, which actually isn’t completely new to us. We’ve played it a couple of times recently in church services. For some unknown reason, we completely forgot to record or publish it until now. It’s a fun and lively arrangement of the Spanish hymn tune Madrid.

Would you like to play this arrangement?

If you’d like to play Come Christians, Join to Sing, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, we recommend reading our step-by-step guide. Your purchase (pay once) entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full details.

Any questions?

If you have any questions, please get in touch, and we’ll be happy to help!