June 24, 2024

A Sparrow on Christmas Morning – for Handbells

A Sparrow on Christmas Morning is a poem that was originally written in Swedish by Finnish writer Zacharias Topelius, in 1859. The poem, Sparven om julmorgonen, was translated to Finnish — Varpunen jouluaamuna — and set to music by Otto Kotilainen. This beautiful Christmas song was first published in 1913. It tells of a girl feeding a sparrow that turns out to be the spirit of her late brother.

“Sleep the flowers of the vale underneath the snow
Turned to ice with winter’s grasp, water’s playful flow
A sparrow, a tiny one, cold north wants you undone
Turned to ice with winter’s grasp, water’s playful flow

At the yard of a poor man’s house, a girl kind and dear:
A seed for you my tiny one, a seed for you right here!
Oh, you poor homeless thing, Christmas can’t make you sing
Seed for you my tiny one, seed for you right here!

Heart and wing afluttering, the girl and the bird
Featherlight touch on her palm and a voice she’s heard:
Blessings to you, my dear! Your kindness brought me here
Featherlight touch on her palm and a voice she’s heard

I have lived your life, oh child, and to you I tell
That I am your brother’s ghost, and I knew you well
This seed grown by the sun, a kindness to a tiny one
Gift for your dead brother’s ghost
Still he knows you well

This seed grown by the sun, a kindness to a tiny one
Gift for your dead brother’s ghost
Still he knows you well“.

The power of social media!

This song came to our attention when one of our friends mentioned it on our Facebook page, and asked if Larry could arrange it for handbells. We’d never heard the song before, but quickly fell in love with the haunting melody.

A beautiful, melancholy song for the winter season

Our arrangement of A Sparrow on Christmas morning is for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells, with 3 octaves of handchimes. If you don’t have handchimes, you can play the piece without them, of course, but the chimes are particularly effective if you do have them! There’s also an opportunity to use “alternate bells” for the introduction. Our video shows Silver Melody Bells, but you could also use Whitechapel or Taylor handbells, Petit and Fritsens, or even handchimes if you chose to. Alternatively, 5-octave choirs can choose to play the introduction an octave higher. The arrangement is Level 3+, and uses suspended malleting, thumb damps, and shakes in the upper treble bells to represent the call of the sparrow as it shivers in the cold, eats the seeds, and sings before falling asleep. Here’s our demonstration video:

More information about A Sparrow on Christmas Morning

A Sparrow on Christmas Morning 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 allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please 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 by email or on our Facebook page!

Please note that Choraegus handbell music is designed to come to you as a downloadable PDF file. 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.

Sparrow on Christmas Morning - snowy winter scene

March 30, 2024

Danny Boy – Bass Handbell Solo

Did you catch Larry’s recent performance of Danny Boy (also known as the Londonderry Air) on our Facebook page recently? In case you missed it, here’s the video, now available to watch on Vimeo:

Larry first performed Danny Boy as a bass handbell solo at the at the Los Altos Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center in California, way back in 2001. At the time, he was helping out with a young handbell choir Valley Vibrations, based at Valley Church in Cupertino. The group was performing at the rehabilitation center, and since the bass bells weren’t getting much use, Larry was able to do a “test run” of his bass solo as part of that performance.

He performed the piece again at the Handbell Musicians of America Area 12 Conference in 2004, in two locations: Ontario, CA and Honolulu, Hawaii, where David Davidson was the clinician.

Fast-forward to 2024, and after 20 years, it seemed like the right time to get this piece out again, and see if Larry was still up to the challenge of playing it.

Some of the challenges involved in this arrangement

A bass handbell solo will inevitably have its challenges! This piece uses handbells ranging from C3 to A5. The lowest bells weigh around 9 lbs each, and the first section of the piece starts with the melody played on those bells.

The first section was challenging to play, not only because of the weight of each bell, but because of the layout and spacing. You can’t be casual about picking up and putting down bass bells, because if it goes wrong, it could be disastrous. The second section requires concentration, because of the double malleting. Larry modified the layout of the bells in this piece from the way he’d done it in 2004, to add the 4-in-hand option for the final section.

The other challenge, of course, is that Larry is twenty years older than he was when he first played this bass solo! Still, after just a few weeks of practising, he managed to get to the point where he could play the whole thing (more than six minutes) from beginning to end, and that felt like quite an achievement. If you watch the video closely, you’ll even catch a few instances of Larry using the “aerial self-pass” technique to transfer a bell swiftly from one hand to another. It’s impressive-looking with the bass bells!

A few outtakes!

Needless to say, there were a few outtakes before Larry got this one right!

Would you like to play this bass handbell solo?

If you’d like to play this piece, the sheet music is available to download from Choraegus. A piano accompaniment mp3 is also available, which can be useful if you don’t have a pianist available. It’s the same backing track Larry used in his performance.

Finally, don’t forget that The Bass Ringer’s Notebook remains one of the must-have instruction books for anyone serious about bass handbell ringing. The book is available in hard copy only, from Choraegus.

Bass Ringer's Notebook, yellow flowers — The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – available from Choraegus

January 15, 2024

Mack the Knife – for Handbells

Mack the Knife was written in 1928 by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, for the Threepenny Opera. The song has been performed by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bobby Darin… and now it’s available for handbells!

It’s dark… but fun!

We really enjoyed recording our demonstration video. As Larry states on Choraegus, this arrangement isn’t for the faint of heart, being a solid Level 5 score – but it’s just SO much fun to play! You can’t necessarily tell from our faces how much fun we were having, but it might help you to know that when we make our demonstration videos, we don’t rehearse first. We just start the camera, start playing, and see how it goes. We may be back with some outtake video from this song! Mack the Knife is arranged for 5-8 octaves of handbells, with 3 octaves of handchimes. The introduction starts simply enough, then there’s a beautiful running sixteen-note line on the chimes… then the fun begins! The subject matter of the original song is dark (look it up if you don’t know it), but there are no lyrics in our version, so you can just enjoy it!

More information about Mack the Knife

Mack the Knife 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 allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

Any questions?

January 14, 2024

Mahler Swing – for Handbells

Mahler Swing is a Level 5 original composition for 5-8 octaves of handbells. We had a lot of fun recording this demonstration video!

The story behind Mahler Swing

Here’s Larry’s account of the story behind the piece, from Choraegus:

“I fell in love with Mahler’s symphonies a long time ago. They’re gigantic works which stretch the limits (so far…) of how musical expression can be built. As of the twentieth century, they represent the pinnacle of orchestral composing.

Mahler’s first symphony is about an hour in length (around three times the length of Mozart’s symphonies, and nearly twice as long as Beethoven’s). Arranging the entire work would result in a very, very large score. The use of thematic material, however, allows a bit of “compression”.

Several decades after Mahler’s time came the Swing Era, with luminaries such as Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Count Basie (and by no means is this an exhaustive list!). This was some of the popular music of the 1930s and 1940s, and the hits from that time endure to the present.

So… the thought crossed my mind: What about melding Mahler and the Swing Era for handbells? The result is the Mahler Swing, which takes elements of the first movement of Mahler’s first symphony and makes them swing. The result is a piece that’s a marvelous earworm!“.

More information about Mahler Swing

Mahler Swing 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 allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please see our licensing agreement for full details.

Any questions?

November 13, 2023

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – a new version!

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is a popular 19th-century carol. We recently recorded a brand-new 8-bell arrangement, in the beautiful Crouse Memorial Chapel at the Bay View Association in northern Michigan.

More information about this 8-bell arrangement

Sheet music for It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. When you look at the page on the Choraegus website, you’ll see that there are two arrangements of this carol. This one is Version 2. Make sure you add the correct one to your shopping cart! This version is less challenging than our earlier version, and more straightforward for a trio or quartet group to play.

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 you permission to use this piece in online and live-streamed worship services. 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.

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. We designed this with pictures, to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a stress-free way.

Looking for more of a challenge?

If you’re looking for a more-challenging version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, try Version 1, available from the same page on the Choraegus website. This version has a lot more running notes, and is fun to play, but definitely takes a bit longer to get the hang of.

Other versions of this carol available from Choraegus

We did mention that this is a popular carol… so yes, we have other arrangements too. There’s one for 6 bells with piano accompaniment, a popular 12-bell arrangement, and an 8-bell arrangement of the NOEL tune that’s more frequently used in the United Kingdom and other countries. Plenty to choose from!

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 be happy to help!

October 9, 2023

Good King Wenceslas – a new 8-bell version!

“Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel”.

Our new arrangement of the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas uses just 8 handbells, and can be played by 2-4 ringers. We recorded our demonstration video in the beautiful Crouse Memorial Chapel at the Bay View Association in northern Michigan.

More information about this 8-bell arrangement

Sheet music for Good King Wenceslas is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. When you look at the page on the Choraegus website, you’ll see that there are two arrangements of this carol. This one is Version 2. Make sure you add the correct one to your shopping cart! This version is less challenging than our earlier version, and more straightforward for a quartet to play.

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.

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 be happy to help!

October 2, 2023

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow – new 12-bell music

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow is the latest handbell arrangement from Choraegus. This African-American spiritual is perfect for a Christmas concert or worship service, and is arranged for 12 handbells.

“There’s a star in the East on Christmas morn;
Rise up, shepherd, and follow;
It will lead to the place where the Christ was born;
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.“

More information about Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

As with all Choraegus 12-bell pieces, Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow is suitable for 3-6 ringers. Sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. Each arrangement is available for three different ranges of handbells, so you can choose which you prefer. Refer the bells-used charts on the Choraegus webpage to make sure you have all the bells you need, and make sure you purchase the right version!

Things to know about Choraegus handbell music

Choraegus handbell music scores are designed to be downloaded as PDF files. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing a 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so please don’t pay for more copies than you need! A practice track is also available separately – useful if your ringers need to practise their parts without the full group being available.

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 arranger (Larry Sue) and the publisher of the piece (Choraegus) on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs. We appreciate your help in getting the word out about Choraegus handbell music – and if you make a video of your handbell choir playing any of our pieces, we’d love to see it!

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!

September 26, 2023

Easy 3-octave Christmas Music – New from Choraegus

Easy 3-octave Christmas music is always useful, whether it’s for a beginning handbell choir, or for a more experienced group looking for music they can put together quickly without needing a lot of rehearsal time. Our new arrangement of the 16th-century carol Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming is simple enough for a less-experienced choir to play, but still sounds effective.

Bonus: you can repeat the verses as many times as you need to! We recorded our demonstration video on handchimes, because we really like the way they sound, but bells will obviously work too.

More information about Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

Lo, How a Rose is for 3 octaves of handbells, Level 1. Sheet music for this arrangement is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. The full choir license is currently available for the bargain price of just $10! 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.

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.

Up for a little more of a challenge?

Your 3-octave handbell choir might also enjoy our recent arrangement of Jingle Bells! There’s lots more 3-octave music available from Choraegus, so please feel free to look around the website. There will also be more easy 3-octave Christmas music coming soon!

Any questions?

Easy 3-octave Christmas music for handbells

September 12, 2023

Handbell Music for Hanukkah

Hanukkah (also Chanukah) is the Jewish festival of lights; an 8-day celebration that’s widely observed throughout the world. We’ve had several requests for handbell music for Hanukkah, and we’re pleased to be able to offer four new 12-bell pieces, available from Choraegus.

The Dreidel Song

Also known as I Have a Little Dreidel, this traditional song describes the creation of the four-sided spinning top that is used to play the game of dreidel during Hanukkah.

“I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay.
And when it’s dry and ready, oh dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, oh dreidel I shall play.“

Sevivon Sov Sov Sov

Sevivon Sov Sov Sov is also known as “The Other Dreidel Song”. Dreidel, spin, spin, spin!

Ma’oz Tzur

Ma’oz Tzur is a Jewish liturgical poem, written in the 12th or 13th century and sung during Hanukkah.

“My Refuge, my Rock of Salvation! ‘Tis pleasant to sing Your praises.
Let our house of prayer be restored. And there we will offer You our thanks.
When You will have slaughtered the barking foe.
Then we will celebrate with song and psalm the altar’s dedication.“

Hanukkah, O Hanukkah

Written by Mordkhe Rivesman and first published in 1912, Hanukkah, O Hanukkah is a popular song of celebration.

“Hanukkah, O Hanukkah,
Come light the menorah,
Come to our party,
We’ll all dance the hora.
Gather ’round the table,
We’ll give you a great,
Dreidels to play with
and latkes to eat.”

More information about this handbell music for Hanukkah

As with all Choraegus 12-bell pieces, these Hanukkah arrangements are suitable for 3-6 ringers. Sheet music is available to purchase and download from Choraegus. Click on the titles above to be taken to the Choraegus site to make your purchase, or find them all listed together with other 12-bell traditional songs. Each arrangement is available for three different ranges of handbells, so you can choose which you prefer. Be sure to refer the bells-used charts on the Choraegus webpage to make sure you have all the bells you need, and be certain to purchase the right version.

Things to know about Choraegus handbell music

Choraegus handbell music scores are designed to be downloaded as a PDF files. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchasing a 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so please don’t pay for more copies than you need! A practice track is also available separately – useful if your ringers need to practise their parts without the full group being available.

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!

August 29, 2023

Escape from No-Note Island – for Handbells

Escape from No-Note Island is a Level 5 original composition for 5-7 octaves of handbells. Larry actually wrote the piece in 2018, but we’ve only just recently managed to record a demo video for it. It’s the perfect piece for the Position 11 diva in your handbell choir!

The story behind Escape from No-Note Island

Here’s Larry’s account of the story behind the piece, from Choraegus:

“Handbell compositions are usually written for note ranges that constitute complete octaves of bells. Having this agreed-on convention between manufacturers, composers, publishers, and performers makes it easier to maintain consistency within the ringing art. For instance, “five octaves” refers to the range C3-C8. Because of this, we start with a common knowledge about the music to be written and the bells needed to play it.

Although this is an excellent way of doing things, the resulting music tends to prefer the middle of its designated note range. This often results in the lowest and largest bells seeing less action. Bass ringers can often accept this situation because it means they can get a short break between spates of heavy lifting.

It’s a different matter for the upper treble ringers. Treble ringers generally prefer being active and occupied, and so there are some who have an aversion to being sent to the far right end of the table, which to them is a desolate place known as “Position 11”. This aversion has led some to label Position 11 with epithets such as “no-note island”.

This piece is dedicated to those of you who feel marooned and forsaken when you’re sent to the topmost position. I hope you’ll feel better about being there when you play this work.

Escape from No-Note Island is dedicated to our friend Caleb Onstead, who is also a published handbell composer. Caleb’s use of the phrase “no-note island” to describe the Position 11 assignment was the inspiration behind this piece. During the recent Bay View Week of Handbells event, Larry had the opportunity to present Caleb with a copy of the score.

More information about Escape from No-Note Island

Escape from No-Note Island 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 allows you to perform, broadcast and live-stream this piece as part of a concert or worship service. There’s no need for any additional license or fee. We ask that you credit the composer (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions). Please see our licensing agreement for full details.