Bellringing for the Salvation Army in Holland, Michigan!
Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell music at the Salvation Army Red Kettle at D&W Fresh Market in Holland, Michigan!
Bellringing for the Salvation Army in Holland, Michigan!
Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell music at the Salvation Army Red Kettle at D&W Fresh Market in Holland, Michigan!
Bellringing for the Salvation Army in Holland, Michigan!
Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell music at the Salvation Army Red Kettle at D&W Fresh Market in Holland, Michigan!
We’re excited to announce that an arrangement of the Estonian folk song Mu Süda, Ärka Üles is now available from Choraegus! This arrangement is by Susan T. Nelson. We commissioned it to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and Campanelli Handbell Ensemble’s visit to the USA from Estonia in July 2017.
The title of the piece translates as Awake, my Heart. This interesting and beautiful arrangement is scored for handbells (4-7 octaves). There are optional handchimes, a handbell duet part, alternate bells, and bar or wind chimes. Campanelli performed the piece for the first time at Estonian House, in New York City.
In one of the performances during the Campanelli tour, a variety of “alternate bells” were also used: Petit & Fritsen and William Dunn handbells, Deagan Pear Bells and Whitechapel Cup Bells. These were all from Susan T. Nelson’s personal collection. However, the piece works perfectly well without the alternate bells, as demonstrated in the video recorded at the Estonian House concert.
In the video, we’re playing an augmented 8-bell duet part. Larry created this to give us slightly more of a challenge than Sue’s original duet part that accompanies the full-choir score. This augmented duet part is not essential to the piece, but you can purchase it as a separate add-on if you’d like to play it. Please note that the 8-bell duet part is not a stand-alone arrangement. We’ll be publishing an eight-bell duet version at some later date!
If you’d like to play Mu Süda, Ärka Üles, you can download the handbell score from Choraegus. You’ll also find more music from Susan T. Nelson there!
The Campanelli tour was one of the highlights of 2017 for us, and this piece is a wonderful reminder of the happy times we shared with the group from Estonia. We hope other handbell ensembles will enjoy playing this piece as much as we all did!
The 2018 Rietberg Concert will feature handbells for the very first time! We’ll be the guest musicians for the 21st annual performance, which will take place here in Holland.
This informal Sunday afternoon program will feature some of our favorite hymns and traditional melodies, all played using just eight bells. We’ll talk about the history of our instrument and some of the techniques we use. We’ll also give you some information about our music, and share how handbells brought us together across thousands of miles. Did you know that we first met online on a website for handbell musicians? Handbells brought us together, when we were living thousands of miles apart!
Organist Linda Strouf will join us for a couple of pieces. There will be a reception afterwards. We’ll be happy to talk more, and answer any questions you might have. Ask us about handbells, music in general, or what brought us from California and England, all the way to Holland!
The 2018 Rietberg Concert will take place at Third Reformed Church, 111 W 13th St, Holland, MI 49423 on Sunday, November 4th, 2018 at 3:00pm. The concert is a tribute to the 45 years of service of Roger and Evelyn Rietberg to the music program of Third Reformed Church.
Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be the guest musicians for the 21st Annual Rietberg Concert. This concert is a tribute to the 45 years of service of Roger and Evelyn Rietberg to the music program of Third Reformed Church.
Larry and Carla are originally from California and England, and were brought together by their passion for handbells. They moved to Holland in August 2016, and are members of Third Reformed Church. This informal Sunday afternoon program will feature hymns and traditional melodies, all played using just eight bells.
Michigan handbell duo Larry and Carla will be presenting a program of Christmas handbell music at a private lunchtime event in Grand Rapids.
November 16 at 11:00 am – 2:00 pm EST
Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be Ringing in the Holiday Season at Ditto Upscale Resale on Friday, November 16th, as part of the store’s annual Holiday Open House event. Come and welcome the holiday season with cookies, coffee and giveaways! Larry and Carla will be performing handbell duets from 11:00am to 2:00pm.
Michigan handbell duo Larry and Carla will be presenting a program of handbell duets at Fall Fest, the annual event held at North Park Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids.
The program will start at 6:30pm and last 45-50 minutes. More details will follow!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
This popular spiritual is fun to play, particularly if you’re a fan of syncopation!
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!
