May 9, 2022

Handbells on Mackinac Island, Spring 2022

This spring we were excited to have the opportunity to play handbells on Mackinac Island again! Mackinac Island is situated between Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas, and it’s a beautiful place to visit. Cars are not allowed on the island, so it really is like stepping back in time. Horses are brought to the island every spring, and they spend the summer pulling carriages, carrying freight around the island, and giving rides to visitors.

Before this year’s event, the most recent Handbell Musicians of America Area 5 spring conference on the island took place in 2018. We were the featured artists for that event. We had such an enjoyable time there, and we were happy that the event could finally go ahead this spring. This time, we didn’t have the pressure of preparing the opening concert, or teaching classes (although we’d have been happy to teach if we’d been asked). It meant that we were able to do more tourist-things and treat it as a much needed mini-vacation!

The conference started on the Friday, with registration beginning on the Thursday evening. We decided to go across to the island on Wednesday, to give ourselves time to settle in and enjoy some of the sights while it was quiet. This turned out to be a really good idea!

Spring takes a long time to arrive in northern Michigan. On our way to the ferry in Mackinac City, we stopped to look at this huge tower of ice. A nearby signed called it the Ice Tree. The ice had started melting away – but there was still a lot left. This gave us a clue that the temperature on Mackinac Island might be a little chillier than at home in Holland.

Arriving on Mackinac Island

We took the Shepler’s ferry from Mackinac City to the island, and had a short and uneventful journey there. We arrived on the island, and decided we could manage to carry our stuff up the hill to Grand Hotel. The wind was blowing fiercely and it was a lot colder than we’d anticipated. Still, we coped, and soon reached the hotel, where we checked in and settled into our room.

Larry Sue at Grand Hotel Mackinac Island

Each of the guest rooms at Grand Hotel is individually decorated. We were there before the hotel officially opened for the season, so we could peek inside unoccupied rooms! The one in the photo above was ours; below are a couple of others:

Time to explore the island!

We spent Wednesday evening, and most of the day on Thursday, exploring the island. The handbell conference was being held before the hotel (and the island) officially opened for summer visitors. That meant that a lot of the shops and restaurants weren’t open yet. There was a fair amount of activity downtown, though, as the shops and hotels prepared for the influx of guests. We enjoyed walking along the uncrowded streets and beaches, and admiring some of the beautiful houses… and the horses! It’s always fun to play the “which house would you choose?” game. We can all dream, right?

We wouldn’t like to give the impression that this trip was more about a vacation than handbells… but we did have a lot of fun before the event started. There’s so much to see in this part of Michigan! We walked around 15 miles during the first couple of days on the island.

Rehearsing our 8-bell duets at Grand Hotel

We decided to play through some of our 8-bell duets on the Wednesday. We’re thankful to Grand Hotel for allowing us to rehearse in their Cupola Bar, on the top floor of the hotel. It was a lovely place to practise, with views across the lake. Here’s a video of our 8-bell arrangement of Amazing Grace:

If you’d like to see all the videos we recorded at the hotel, you can see them in a showcase on our Vimeo channel.

The handbell conference started on Friday, with the first massed ringing rehearsal and an excellent concert by Quadrants Handbell Quartet. We didn’t count how many handbell choirs were at the event, but the auditorium was full. There were classes on various topics too. We attended one about handbell music for small groups, featuring some of our 8-, 12- and 16-bell music, along with music by other arrangers. It’s wonderful to know that there’s so much music available for small groups now. Fred Gramann was the director for the event, and we had a surprisingly large number of people in the audience for the final concert on Saturday afternoon. We performed pieces by Fred Gramann, Linda Lamb, Sandra Eithun, Jason Krug and Dan Edwards, and all were well received.

Thanks to HMA Area 5!

After the pandemic-related delay, it was wonderful to gather and play handbells on Mackinac Island again! Our thanks go to all at Area 5 of the Handbell Musicians of America – for all the hard work that went into organising this year’s spring conference. It takes a lot of time and effort to create an event like this, and we appreciate everyone who worked so hard to make it a success.

So, when will we get to play handbells on Mackinac Island again? That’s a good question. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we won’t have to wait too long!

May 9, 2022

‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime – for Handbells, 3 or 5 Octaves

“‘Twas in the moon of wintertime
When all the birds had fled
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead
Before their light the stars grew dim
And wond’ring hunters heard the hymn:

Jesus, your King, is born;
Jesus is born!
In excelsis gloria!”

‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime, also known as the Huron Carol, is thought to be Canada’s oldest Christmas Carol. It was written in around 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary in Canada. The tune is based on a traditional French song.

More information about ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime

‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime is for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, with optional handchimes. It’s an exciting arrangement with a touch of mystery! There’s lots of activity for the bass bells, and the handchimes add a shimmer of magic.

Sheet music for this arrangement 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.

More information about Choraegus handbell music

Your purchase of the full-choir license also gives 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 composer (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. 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!

Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a PDF file, which you’ll need to download. 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.

Twas in the Moon of Wintertime Huron Handbells

April 18, 2022

Home at Last – an Original Composition for Handbells

Home at Last is an original composition with a history! It started life several decades ago as a song for SATB choir; part of Larry’s Living Water Composition Project. You can read more about that project on our Choraegus website, and find the choral scores for all the songs. Home at Last is the 54th composition in that project – and it works really well as a handbell piece too!

Here’s our demonstration video, with thanks to Kalamazoo Ringers for letting us borrow their B2 bass handbell. Keep watching, and you’ll see it!

More information about Home at Last

Home at Last is for 5-8 octaves of handbells, Level 4+. Probably the biggest challenges in the piece are the fast glissando-style runs, but they’re not actually as difficult as they look on paper (as long as you don’t over-think them). Advanced handbell choirs will enjoy this piece!

Sheet music for this original composition 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.

Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a PDF file, which you’ll need to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

Any questions?

Home at Last original handbell composition

April 4, 2022

A Celebration of Our Life – for Handbells

Larry wrote A Celebration of Our Life for a California couple, in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary in 2008. Their church’s handbell choir played it when they renewed their vows. As we didn’t have a video, we thought it was about time we made one!

About A Celebration of Our Life

(From Choraegus): Fun abounds in this piece, as it describes parts of their story. For instance:

The introductory melody is both thirty beats long and thirty notes long (not counting ties), and it also has three tenuti (three ten.’s = 30!)
Three children are represented as the lines in a three-voice fugue. This fugal melody also appears in the last section as a countermelody.
There’s a bit of theory geek stuff in the final chord sequences:
– In bars 87 and 88: VII + vi + VII + VII + ii + I = 30
– In bars 89 and 90: ii * iii * V * I = 30
– and in bars 91 and 92 (not counting the suspended 4th): VI * V * I = 30

Apart from all that “fun”, the piece is a challenging Level 4, written for 5 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes. Sheet music for this arrangement 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.

How to get the music

Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a PDF file, which you’ll need to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

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 information you need, and we’ll be happy to help.

February 14, 2022

Five – an Original Composition for Handbells

We made another 5-octave handbell video! Five is an original composition for handbells, written in celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary, back in 2017.

This piece has an interesting story, because Larry wrote it as a surprise anniversary gift. He shared the sheet music with the Carillon Choir at Third Reformed Church here in Holland, and they played it for the first time during one of the morning services. It was such a romantic and sweet gesture. As it’s an original composition, it was easy to turn the music into a nice prelude for the service.

We didn’t get a video of the whole piece that morning, and we decided a couple of weeks ago that it was time to record it ourselves. We published the video in time for Valentine’s Day!

The fun thing about Five is that there are secret 5s in the music – so it’s a bit of a treasure hunt – starting with the number of octaves and the key signatures, of course. Larry didn’t make it a Level 5 piece, though; it’s a Level 2+, and quite straightforward to play.

Would you like to play this piece?

Sheet music for this original composition for handbells 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 also gives 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. 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!

Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a PDF file, which you’ll need to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

Any questions?

Original composition for handbells - by Larry Sue

October 21, 2021

Away in a Manger – for 6 Handbells and Piano

“Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head;
the stars in the heavens looked down where He lay,
the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.“

We’ve enjoyed putting together some handbell music that needs only 6 bells, a piano and an optional sling! Here’s an arrangement of the gentle Away in a Manger carol. It’s the CRADLE SONG melody, which is the standard tune used in the UK, rather than the MURRAY tune more familiar to people in the USA.

Please be reassured that Larry put the sling on especially for this video. He’s recovered well from his shoulder surgery, and doesn’t need the sling any more. Whenever we post a 6-bell video, we always receive concerned messages asking what injury Larry has suffered… but honestly, the sling is just to keep his right arm occupied while there aren’t enough bells to need both hands. We refer to it these days as a “concert sling”.

Of course, the alternative would be for Carla to give up one of her bells, so that we’d have three each. But have you ever tried asking anyone to give up a bell?

More information about Away in a Manger

This piece is arranged for just 6 handbells, with piano accompaniment. It’s suitable for 2-3 ringers to play, with no requirement to divide the bells in the same way we did. You can play it with just two bells each, or split between two ringers with three bells each. It’s a gentle melody, and one of our more straightforward 6-bell arrangements.

If you’d like to play Away in a Manger, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus, our music site. An mp3 accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately, for anyone who doesn’t have a pianist available or wants to practise at home.

Another arrangement of this carol

We also have an 8-bell (unaccompanied) arrangement of this carol, available to download from Choraegus.

Things to know about Choraegus sheet music

Please note that sheet music from Choraegus 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. Purchase of a 6-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to three copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites and social media, as well as in any printed materials.

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. Just about every question anyone has ever asked us is there, along with lots of answers. Please contact us if you don’t find the information you need, and we’ll be happy to help!

Away in a Manger 6-bell — Our Victorian cottage in Northern Michigan, where we recorded our demonstration video

July 23, 2021

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus – for 16 Handbells

“Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear,
Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here.
Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.“

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus continues our little run of 16-bell arrangements. Not to be confused with Fanny Crosby’s Tell Me the Story of Jesus (also available from Choraegus), Stories was written by William Parker in 1885, with music by Frederic Challinor.

More information about this 16-bell arrangement

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus contains no bell changes, and needs no bell-sharing, so you can play it without needing tables or foam. We demonstrate it as a 4-in-hand piece, but it’s suitable for up to 8 ringers to play, holding just two bells each. This arrangement is available in two ranges – either from C5 to F6, or from F5 to C7.

If your handbell ensemble is still observing social distancing, or you need a small ensemble piece for the summer months, this could work!

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

More about Choraegus handbell music

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. 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 title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

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. Just about every question we’ve ever been asked is there, along with answers! However, if you don’t find the answer you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

June 7, 2021

Handbells at the Holland Kerstmarkt

December 10 at 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST

We’re looking forward to playing handbells at the Holland Kerstmarkt again in 2021!

Handbell duo Larry and Carla will again be playing traditional Christmas handbell music at the Kerstmarkt. This is an annual open-air European-style Christmas market located at the 8th Street Marketplace in Downtown Holland. Come and listen to beautiful festive music as you shop for unique, handcrafted gifts and locally-made holiday treats. Coffee and hot cider will be available to help you stay warm!

We’ve been fortunate that the weather has been kind to us every time we’ve played at this annual event. Thankfully, we haven’t had to cope with the kind of extreme cold that would make what we do impossible. Handbells generally don’t appreciate cold temperatures. We notice the change in the sound of the bells when we play outdoors in winter, but the worst of the weather generally seems to wait until after Christmas! Most of the Kerstmarkt is under cover, so you can shop for gifts comfortably there. The market is located in Downtown Holland, so there are plenty of shops and restaurants close by. Here’s a video of one of our performances from the 2018 Kerstmarkt:

We played handbells at the Holland Kerstmarkt in 2020, and the masks proved surprisingly good at keeping our faces warm!

The market is at its most festive after dark. We hope to see you there in 2021!

Kerstmarkt – Holland

150 W 8th St
Holland, MI 49423 United States + Google Map

Free The event is free to attend, but tips for the musicians are always appreciated!

June 7, 2021

Handbells at the Kerstmarkt – Holland

November 26 at 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST

We’re looking forward to playing handbells at the Kerstmarkt again in 2021!

Handbell duo Larry and Carla will be playing traditional Christmas handbell music at the Kerstmarkt – an open-air European-style Christmas market located at the 8th Street Marketplace in Downtown Holland. Come and listen to beautiful festive music as you shop for unique, handcrafted gifts and locally-made holiday treats. Coffee and hot cider will be available to help you stay warm!

We played handbells at the Kerstmarkt in 2020, and the masks proved surprisingly good at keeping our faces warm!

The market is at its most festive after dark. We hope to see you there in 2021!

Free The event is free to attend, but tips for the musicians are always appreciated!

Kerstmarkt – Holland

150 W 8th St
Holland, MI 49423 United States + Google Map

August 17, 2020

New Handbell Music – 6-Bell Nyanyikanlah

Nyanyikanlah is our latest 6-bell arrangement. It’s a traditional Indonesian Batak melody that’s fun to play! It’s the setting for Hallelujah! Sing Praise to Your Creator, with English lyrics by David James Diephouse and Indonesian lyrics (Nyanyikanlah nyanyian baru bagi) by Tilly Lubis.

This cheerful 6-bell arrangement works well as a duet, but could be played with a trio of three ringers too. Perfect for social distancing!

How to get the sheet music for Nyanyikanlah

If you’d like to play Nyanyikanlah, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. An mp3 piano accompaniment track is also available to purchase separately. This can be helpful if you don’t have a willing accompanist, or want to rehearse at home.

Please note that our 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. Purchasing a 6-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to three copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score), and also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites, church websites and social media. 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, and in any printed materials such as church service bulletins.

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 do what we can to help!