We’re starting 2017 with a new arrangement for eight handbells. This is the German hymn O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright.
“O Morning Star, how fair and bright thou beamest forth in truth and light, O Sovereign meek and lowly! Thou Root of Jesse, David’s Son, my Lord and Master, thou hast won my heart to serve thee solely! Thou art holy, fair and glorious, rich in blessing, rule and might o’er all possessing.”
Over the years, this hymn has been popular for weddings and funerals in Germany. However, in the USA it’s now more often sang at Epiphany.
More information about this arrangement
This arrangement isn’t too challenging to play, and would be also be very suitable as a quartet piece. If you’d like to play it, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
When you purchase music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a PDF file. 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 arrangement entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell choir.
If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed the guide to take you through the purchase process in a stress-free way.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you seek, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Since 2012, we’ve supported the Salvation Army in the San Francisco Bay Area by playing our handbell duets during their annual Red Kettle campaign. Now that we’re no longer living in California, we’re pleased to be able to help with the fundraising at the Red Kettle here in Holland, Michigan instead.
At the Salvation Army Red Kettle in Mountain View, California last year
This holiday season, we’ll be playing Christmas carols and holiday music at D&W Fresh Market. The store is located at 50 Douglas Ave, Holland, MI 49424. We’ll be there between 10:00am and 12:00pm on the following dates:
Friday, November 18
Saturday, November 26
Wednesday, November 30
Monday, December 5
Thursday, December 15
Tuesday, December 20
Do you ever get fed up with the sound of the Salvation Army bell ringers? We’ll be playing real Christmas music – carols and traditional tunes from all over the world. It’s a little different from the usual sound you hear in stores at this time of year!
We hope you’ll drop by if you’re shopping for groceries at that time. Please help the Salvation Army provide food, shelter and social services to those in need throughout the year. Contact us here or on our Facebook page if you have any questions!
This week we’re back home in Holland, Michigan, concentrating on getting back to “normal life” after our trip to Petoskey for the 2016 Bay View Week of Handbells.
“What is normal life?”, you may ask. For us, it means unpacking more boxes and finding places to put everything in our new home. It means cutting the grass that grew taller while we were away. Sadly, it also means filing away the music we rehearsed for the Week of Handbells concert. We need to get back into practising our duet music instead!
More about the Week of Handbells
This event takes place every year, in August, at the John M. Hall Auditorium in Bay View, Michigan. The event was first held in 1978. Donald E. Allured (1922-2011) was the founding director, and the event started with around 30 particpants. Since then, the Week of Handbells has grown! Over a hundred handbell musicians now take part every year.
The current director is Carl Wiltse, who has a long history with the event, going as far back as the very first Bay View Handbell Workshop. Don Allured passed the baton to Carl in 2002.
Maestro Carl Wiltse with his wife Pamela at the 2014 Week of Handbells
As with last year’s event, Fred Gramann assisted Carl in directing. He conducted four pieces in this years concert.
With Fred Gramann at the 2016 Week of Handbells
The Week of Handbells is always a demanding event, both physically and mentally, but the rewards are worth it. We started rehearsals at midday on Monday, and rehearsals continued at 9:00am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There was an extra 8:00am session each morning. These were for the super-enthusiastic or anyone who wanted to do additional work on those tricky sections in some of the music.
Some very challenging pieces!
The most-challenging pieces in this year’s repertoire were Michael Mazzatenta’s Allegretto – an entirely malleted piece, with fiendish chromatic passages and unexpected accidentals to catch us out at times, Alex Guebert’s All Creatures of our God and King, which Fred renamed All Meters… for obvious reasons, and Fred’s own Nollirac Carillon, with its many 7/8 passages and the occasional 4/4 or 9/8 thrown in. “Accent, accent… STRONG weak, STRONG weak, STRONG weak weak” quickly became a mantra for many of us during the week!
We were excited to hear Larry’s arrangement of Tico Tico performed in this year’s concert. Even though it’s a challenging piece, rehearsals went pretty smoothly from the very start of the week. A lot of preparation goes on before the event, of course. Participants are meant to come to the event “performance-ready”, having learned their music thoroughly in the weeks and months beforehand. Even though it takes a while to get more than a hundred musicians all playing together as one instrument, that advance preparation really makes all the difference!
The John M Hall Auditorium – a wonderful venue for the Week of Handbells
Our history with the Week of Handbells
We’ve been attending the Bay View Week of Handbells together since 2010. It was the first place where we spent time together “in real life” after meeting online on a website for handbell musicians. We celebrated our engagement there in 2011, and it was also the place we went to after flying from England when Carla’s visa finally came through and we were able to close the distance and start our life together as a couple in the same continent. The exciting difference about this year’s Week of Handbells was that, for the first time, we were able to drive to the event instead of having to fly all the way from California! It was a scenic journey, but it rained heavily for almost the entire trip there, and part of the way back too. Knowing that we now live in Michigan made such a difference to us at the end of this year’s event; the goodbyes at the “farewell breakfast” were less painful when we weren’t facing a long flight and a change of time zone afterwards!
Our favorite handbell event
The Bay View Week of Handbells is by far our favorite handbell event ever, for so many reasons. We get the opportunity to play some great music under the baton of a dedicated and talented director. There’s all the beautiful scenery too. The auditorium is surrounded by pretty cottages, and the lake is just a few moments’ walk away. The event is full of memories for us, and carries great meaning because of the part it played in our relationship journey.
Above all, the Bay View Week of Handbells is a wonderful event because of the people there. Every year we’re reunited with old friends and we meet new ones. We feel as though we’re all part of a big, supportive and happy family. Each individual is welcomed, appreciated and supported. We all encourage each other as we share in the experience of working together to prepare for the Thursday night concert. We’re encouraged to work hard – not only to become the best musicians we can be, but the best people we can be – and we’re already looking forward to doing it all over again in August 2017!
Today is the first day of the 2016 Bay View Week of Handbells! We’ll be spending the next four days playing some great music at the John M. Hall Auditorium in Bay View, Petoskey, as more than a hundred handbell musicians rehearse together under the direction of Carl Wiltse.
You can find out more about this event, and why it will always hold a special place in our hearts, by reading our article about the Bay View Week of Handbellsand taking a look at our gallery of photos. This year is the first time we’ve been able to drive to the event – from our new home in Holland, Michigan!
At the end of this week’s rehearsals, there will be a concert, open to the public and free to attend. The concert will be held on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 8:00pm in the John M. Hall Auditorium, 1715 Encampment Ave., Petoskey, Michigan. An offering will be taken to benefit the Bay View Association Music Scholarship Fund.
This year’s concert repertoire:
Processional by Arnold Sherman
Allegretto arr. Michael Mazzatenta
All Creatures of our God and King arr. Alex Guebert
Concerto for Handbells and Organ in Baroque Style by Michael Helman
The Lord Bless you and Keep You by Peter Lutkin (sung; not played)
The performance will be professionally recorded by Pierpont Productions, so if you can’t make it to the concert, you can order a DVD or CD by calling Pierpont Productions on 231-347-4488.
We’ll be posting updates and photos on our Facebook page as the week goes by. We’d love to see you at the concert!
We celebrated our recent arrival in Holland, Michigan by spending a couple of hours playing our handbell duets on 8th Street. Thank you to everyone who stopped to listen to our music!
We had fun being street musicians in Holland today!
Downtown Holland is a great place to play music. We arrived armed with a street performers’ permit, and a map of approved locations. After that, it’s just a question of finding a spot along the street where you won’t be in anyone’s way. Then you have to park the car in a location not too far from your chosen performance spot. After that, you simply hope that people will enjoy the music you have to offer. We enjoyed playing our handbell duets in Holland today!
8th Street, where we played handbell duets
You can book us to play handbells at your event!
We had some enquiries about our availability to play our duets at other events. The answer is yes, you can book us to play handbells at your wedding, church service, party, Christmas event, wine-tasting… well, the list goes on. We’re new to West Michigan, so we have lots of dates available in the coming months!
Check out our YouTube channel to see some more of our duets. If you’d like to book us for your event, request a copy of our current fee schedule, or have any questions, please get in touch!
Here’s our latest hymn arrangement for 8 handbells – it’s This is My Father’s World.
We were quite surprised to find out that the tune Terra Beata (Latin for beautiful world) is originally an English folk tune.
How to get the sheet music for this arrangement
This arrangement is fairly straightforward to play, and suitable for 2-4 ringers. If you’d like to play This Is My Father’s World, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
When you buy music from Choraegus, please note that the music will come to you in digital (PDF) format. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. 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 haven’t purchased music from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this (with pictures) to help make the process stress-free!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please take a look at our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Children of the Heavenly Father is our latest 8-bell piece. It’s an arrangement of a tune that is thought to have originally been a Swedish folk melody.
We played this hymn for the first time at Burlingame United Methodist Church, California, at their Father’s Day service last month.
Our 8-bell arrangement is straightforward to play, and would also be suitable for a trio or quartet.
Would you like to play this arrangement?
If you’d like to play Children of the Heavenly Father, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
When you purchase Choraegus music, the music score will come to you as a digital download. That means you’ll be responsible for printing it yourself, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell choir. Please don’t pay for more copies than you need!
If you’re not familiar with buying our music online, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to make the process as stress-free as possible!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our handbell music, you might like to check our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you seek, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
“Take the Name of Jesus with you, Child of sorrow and of woe, It will joy and comfort give you; Take it then, where’er you go. Precious Name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of Heav’n. Precious Name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of Heav’n.”
Here’s our latest 8-bell arrangement – the hymn Take the Name of Jesus With You (PRECIOUS NAME). We recorded this video during a rehearsal at Los Altos United Methodist Church. It’s a lively and fun arrangement to play!
How to get the sheet music
If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available from Choraegus.
When you purchase sheet music from Choraegus, you’ll need to remember that it comes to you as a digital (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 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 music from Choraegus before, you might find our step-by-step guide helpful. We designed this to take you through the purchasing process and make it stress-free!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, we recommend looking at our Frequently-Asked Questions. It’s possible that someone else has already asked the same question, and received an answer! If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
On Easter Sunday we had the opportunity to be part of the celebrations at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We played a couple of our new hymn accompaniments (coming to our website soon!) as well as specially-arranged handbell parts for two choir anthems.
Easter Sunday at Los Altos United Methodist Church
We also enjoyed collaborating with LAUMC’s talented Senior Organist, T. Paul Rosas. Paul recently wrote an organ accompaniment to Come Christians, Join to Sing. We played the 8-bell arrangement with organ and handbells at the three morning services on Easter Sunday. It was a lot of fun! Here’s a recording from one of the services:
Our thanks go to Los Altos United Methodist Church for making this recording available to us.
Would you like to play this piece?
If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from our music site.
When you buy music from Choraegus, please remember that the music will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. See our printing guides for more information about this!
If you’re new to buying Choraegus music, you might find it helpful to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide 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 like to look at the Frequently-Asked Questions. It’s possible that someone else has already asked the same question and received an answer! If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Here’s our latest 8-bell arrangement; it’s the popular hymn He Keeps Me Singing.
We know this hymn as a lively and joyful melody. However, we recently read about the circumstances that led Luther Burgess Bridgers to write it – and they were far from happy. He was a pastor and evangelist who wrote the hymn after his wife and three sons had died in a house fire while he was away preaching.
“There’s within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low, Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still, In all of life’s ebb and flow.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest Name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go.”
Our thanks to Los Altos United Methodist Church for allowing us to rehearse in their beautiful sanctuary. It’s the place where we had our wedding ceremony in September 2012.
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.
When you buy music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a digital download; a PDF file. 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 arrangement will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details.
If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, we recommend our step-by-step guide! We designed this in an attempt to take you through the process in a stress-free way.
Any questions for us?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to check our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
