Now that we have more time together at home, we decided to try recording another full-choir piece with just the two of us. We decided on Newness – one of Larry’s original compositions – as our second recording project. We didn’t have 5 octaves of handbells at home, so we played the 3-octave version.
As with All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine, this was a read-through, rather than a practised performance. It’s pretty much all there, but we didn’t practise beforehand, and didn’t work on expression or dynamics. Still, you should get a reasonable idea of how the piece is meant to sound.
This is another arrangement that needs no bell-sharing between ringers. If your handbell choir is observing social distancing, and playing from spaced-apart tables, this piece could work well!
More information about the music
Newness is an original composition written for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, with 2 octaves of (optional) chimes. The sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.
Choraegus handbell music is designed to be downloaded as a PDF file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. When you’ve downloaded your music, your one-time payment entitles you to print out up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full information. If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please look at the Frequently-Asked Questions first. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
All Praise to Thee, For Thou, O King Divine was a new recording adventure for us! In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been making daily road-trips (Monday-Friday) between Holland and Ann Arbor for Larry’s radiation treatment. Spending more than 6 hours a day in the car definitely makes us appreciate our weekends!
Here’s our video. Please be warned; this was very much a read-through. If we’d taken time to rehearse, it would have looked and sounded smoother, but… well, the weekend was too short!
As you can see from the video, this arrangement has no bell-sharing between ringers. If your handbell choir is observing social distancing, and playing from spaced-apart tables, this piece could work well!
Where to find the sheet music
All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine is written for 3-5 octaves of handbells, with an octave of (optional) chimes. The sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.
Choraegus handbell music is designed to be downloaded as a PDF file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. When you’ve downloaded your music, your one-time payment entitles you to print out up to 15 copies for your group. Please read our licensing agreement for full information. If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please look at the Frequently-Asked Questions first. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms is our latest arrangement for 12 handbells. We had lots of fun playing this one! It has a relaxed, jazzy feel, to take all your troubles away. Well, maybe!
As with all Choraegus 12-bell arrangements, this piece has no bell-sharing, and there are no accidentals to pick up mid-piece. There are no techniques that need tables or foam, so the arrangement can be played from music stands. The music is suitable for 3-6 ringers, and two versions are available – either using bells C5-G6 (as in our demo video), or using F5-C7.
Where to get the sheet music
If you’d like to play Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, the sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group. Choraegus handbell 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.
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 title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.
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!
“To God be the glory, great things He hath done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.“
To God Be the Glory is one of our favorite pieces to play as an 8-bell duet. We recently decided the time was right for a new 12-bell arrangement! Here’s our “cloned” demonstration video:
As with all Choraegus 12-bell arrangements, this piece has no bell-sharing, and there are no accidentals to pick up mid-piece. There are no techniquest that need tables or foam, so the arrangement can be played from music stands. The music is suitable for 3-6 ringers, and two versions are available – either using bells C5-G6 (as in our demo video), or using F5-C7.
Where to get the sheet music
If you’d like to play To God Be the Glory, the sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once.
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 title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.
Another thing to note is 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.
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 be happy to help!
Some of you may remember that Larry had prostate surgery at the beginning of 2019. We originally had high hopes that the surgery would be the end of Larry’s prostate cancer. Towards the end of 2019, we were told that Larry was cancer-free, and we celebrated.
However, things changed in late December 2019, when one of Larry’s routine blood tests came back with a worrying result. Hoping it was just a blip, he did another test, and the result was worse. We were referred to a local radiation oncologist here in Holland, and told that there was a high probability that the cancer had returned.
Prostate cancer can hide for a long time!
The problem with prostate cancer recurrence is that it’s not always easy to know where the cancer is hiding. After a couple more blood tests, the radiation oncologist referred Larry for an Axumin PET scan in Grand Rapids at the beginning of May. However, here in the USA, it often seems that medical treatment is decided not so much by the doctors as by the insurance companies. Our health insurance company refused to approve the PET scan, so the appointment was cancelled. We were very disappointed, but focused on Larry’s shoulder surgery, which had been scheduled for May.
Last summer, as he recovered from shoulder surgery, Larry had more tests. He had a bone scan, an MRI, a kidney ultrasound, and a renal nuclear scan. None of those tests showed us where the cancer was hiding. We continued life as normal, as far as we could – driving up to Bay View for days and weekends by the lake, and driving back to Holland for more doctors’ appointments.
Finally, a PET scan!
When summer was over, we were growing anxious that Larry hadn’t started any treatment for his cancer recurrence. We decided to try again to get the much-needed PET scan. After some online searching, we found out that there was a clinical trial of a PSMA PET scan at the University of Michigan hospital. We took a deep breath, contacted the hospital, and asked if Larry qualified for the scan. Our insurance once again refused to cover it, so we were left with no option but to agree to pay the cost ourselves.
At the start of November, we drove to Ann Arbor, where Larry had the PSMA PET scan. Here he is, at the hospital, before the scan – still smiling behind the mask.
The scan results came back, showing that the cancer had spread to a lymph node. We made an appointment to see an oncologist at the University of Michigan.
Next steps
The next chapter in Larry’s treatment will include radiation at the University of Michigan Hospital. The treatment starts on Tuesday, January 19, and will be Monday-Friday; twenty sessions over four weeks. The hospital is 3 hours away from where we live, and Larry is planning to drive there (and back) every day for as long as it’s possible. We love long road-trips, right?
2020 was not the best of years. You know that already
2020 was a tough year for lots of people, us included. It left us with a ton of stress, a heap of worries, and more medical bills than we know what to do with. However, Larry’s still feeling well. He’s still writing handbell music, singing for online church services, and doing life as normal. We have each other, and friends to cheer us on, and we’re thankful.
Larry will be receiving treatment for the next six months – and by the end of this year, we should know if the treatment has been successful. We appreciate all love, prayers and positive thoughts as we go through this next chapter in our story.
The Skye Boat Song is a 19th century Scottish tune. We recently introduced an arrangement for 8 handbells and piano. Here’s a new 12-bell arrangement that’s fun to play too. This one starts very simply, then moves on to a flowing arpeggio section. Even though the piece started life as a secular song, the tune is also used in church as the setting for Spirit of God, Unseen as the Wind, written by Margaret Old. People have also told us that this tune is the theme tune for the TV series Outlander, which we haven’t yet seen!
We enjoyed recording this arrangement with just the two of us:
12-bell music is great for socially-distanced ringing!
As with all Choraegus 12-bell arrangements, this piece has no bell-sharing, and no techniques that need tables or foam. It could be played by 3-6 ringers, playing from music stands. Two versions are available – either using bells C5-G6 (as in our demo video), or using F5-C7.
Where to get the sheet music
If you’d like to play The Skye Boat Song, you’ll find the sheet music on Choraegus, our music site. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. 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 title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.
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, 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 be happy to help!
Lift High the Cross is a 19th century English hymn. The tune used here is CRUCIFER, written in 1916 by Sydney H. Nicholson. It’s a popular hymn for Holy Week and Easter, and our new 8-bell arrangement is straightforward and fun to play.
People sometimes ask us how they can use 8-bell music when they have more than 4 ringers in their handbell choir. We suggest that if handchimes are available, the piece could be doubled on bells and chimes! We decided to demonstrate this in our latest video:
Played like this, doubled on handbells and handchimes, up to 8 ringers could be kept busy with just 2 bells or chimes each. Of course, if you only have 2-4 ringers, you won’t need to double anything, and the piece can just be played in the usual way. But this was a fun experiment!
How to get the sheet music:
If you’d like to play Lift High the Cross, the sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. We also have an mp3 piano accompaniment track, available to purchase separately if you don’t have a willing accompanist. It’s also useful if you want to rehearse at home.
The all-important “small print”
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 an 8-bell arrangement allows you to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites and social media. 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, and in any printed materials such as church service bulletins.
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 do what we can to help!
16-bell music has been a fairly recent recording project for us. It’s been an exciting challenge to put together some new demonstration videos.
Holy, Holy, Holy is our latest arrangement for sixteen handbells. We enjoyed recording this piece as a duet project, and we love how pretty the snow looks in the background!
This arrangement is straightforward to play, and contains no bell changes and no accidentals to pick up mid-piece. There are no techniques that require tables, so it’s suitable for a socially-distanced group to play from music stands.
If you’d like to play Holy, Holy, Holy, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Other 16-bell music is also available. If you don’t see the title you’re looking for, please let us know, and we’ll see what we can do!
More information (the small print)
Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to eight copies for your handbell group. 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. In addition, please 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, 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, designed to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.
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 do what we can to help!
Here’s some new 6-bell music to start the new year!
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross is a setting of the HAMBURG hymn tune, for six handbells with piano accompaniment. The arrangement is suitable to be played as a duet, or by a trio of ringers playing two bells each. It does seem early to be thinking about music for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, but we know how quickly the weeks and months go by!
“When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.”
As with all our 6-bell arrangements, this piece involves no bell changes, no picking-up of accidentals mid-piece, and no shared bells. Perfect for social distancing!
If you’d like to play When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, 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. This can be useful if you want to rehearse at home without a pianist, or if you don’t have an accompanist available for your worship service.
More information (the small print)
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). Purchase also gives permission for recording, broadcasting, live-streaming and sharing on video-sharing sites and social media. 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, and 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.
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!
It’s the time of year when we like to look back at our handbell performances during the busy run-up to Christmas. We’re talking about a very different kind of holiday season!
Our busiest time of the year usually begins in late November and continues all through December. In past years, there have been weeks when we’ve felt as though we hardly seen our home during the run-up to Christmas! However, in recent months, churches have been holding services online, and community groups have been unable to meet in person. Senior communities have been closed to visitors, and company Christmas events were canceled. It seemed that no one was having holiday parties or booking musicians for performances this winter.
So, what did we do during this unusually quiet holiday season?
We are very fortunate to have been able to make handbell music together in recent months. It’s true that the COVID-19 situation had a dramatic effect on our handbell performance opportunities. However, we were still able to write and play music as a handbell duo, and we’re thankful for that. We took the opportunity to play and record some of our 12- and 16-bell music. It was a new adventure for us, and we were pleased with how several of the videos turned out. Here’s The First Nowell:
Continuing a holiday tradition
One of our favorite regular holiday performance venues is the Kerstmarkt in Downtown Holland. It’s an outdoor, European-style Christmas market, and we were happy that the event could still take place this year. We gave two evening performances at the Kerstmarkt, and enjoyed it as much as ever, in spite of the chilly weather!
Virtual performances
For one of our performances this December, we took a virtual trip to Colorado! A Denver-based community group asked us to prepare an online handbell program for their holiday gathering. We gave this event a lot of thought, and decided that it would be too risky to give a “live” performance on Zoom. We occasionally have issues with our internet connection, and couldn’t be certain how well the tone of our handbells would come across online.
To solve this problem, we recorded the program beforehand and uploaded it as a YouTube video for the group to watch. We soon discovered how much more stressful it is to introduce a handbell performance when you’re talking to a camera instead of a real audience! Here we are, by the Christmas tree, trying failing to talk without looking awkward:
On the evening of the virtual performance, we joined the group in a Zoom question-and-answer session. It was a good way to share our music with a far-away group, and we’d definitely consider doing something similar again.
Christmas concerts
We had fun putting together some online performances for the Kalamazoo Ringers’ Home for Christmas virtual concert. Carla produced the video for the group, combining recordings from last year’s Christmas Traditions concert with some new performances. These new performances were by several small ensembles and a soloist. Here’s our lively arrangement of Ding Dong, Merrily on High, with Martha and Gary Matthews on flute and piano:
We also spent some time putting together our own Christmas handbell duet concert. We’d recorded the 6- and 8-bell music in late October, at our summer cottage at Bay View in northern Michigan. The cottage was seriously cold at the time! We showed some photos taken during the snowy months, when the Victorian cottages at Bay View are closed up for the winter. Lake Michigan is breathtakingly beautiful when it’s covered in ice!
In-person performances
We received a fairly last-minute invitation to play at the Burcham Hills Festival of Lights in East Lansing. This it turned out to be a very festive evening! The event was totally contactless, with families driving through in their cars, stopping to meet Santa and listen to our Christmas music. The organizers had made great efforts to keep this community event safe for everyone. We played our handbell duets on two consecutive evenings – and yes, it was cold! The Christmas lights twinkled in the darkness, and people seemed to enjoy the festivities.
A busy month at church
While Carla was busy editing concert videos, Larry had a busy month as a cantor/music mixer for our church’s online worship services. We made videos of our handbell duets for Advent and Christmas services, and took part in an online Christmas Eve concert with other musicians from the church. Just before Christmas, we recorded a brand-new arrangement of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing with Linda Strouf. Linda mastered the interesting piano part after a very short rehearsal time! You can find the video on our Facebook page.
On the Sunday after Christmas Day, we went to South Haven First United Methodist Church to play some carols there. We recorded some handbell music in the sanctuary, ready for the service to be broadcast later in the day. We appreciated this final opportunity to share some of our Christmas music before putting away the carols for a while.
All in all, it was a very quiet holiday season for us. In some ways, we missed the usual flurry of activity. However, we did enjoy the opportunity to take December a little more calmly. A huge bonus was being able to enjoy so many of the online handbell concerts posted by groups across the world. We watched handbell performances by groups we’d never usually have the opportunity to see. Many small ensembles performed Choraegus handbell music this holiday season, and we were thankful for that too.
Looking ahead to 2021
What will 2021 look like for handbell performances and live music events? It’s too early to say! We hope that at some point in the coming months, we’ll be able to share our music with in-person audiences again. In the meantime, our thanks go to everyone who invited us to be part of their masked-and-socially-distant 2020 holiday events!
