It’s the time of year when people start looking for patriotic music for handbells. America the Beautiful is a much-loved song, with lyrics written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893. After the poem’s initial publication in 1895, people sung the words to a variety of traditional folk tunes, including Auld Lang Syne. Eventually it was paired with Samuel A. Ward’s tune MATERNA, and they were first published together in 1910. These days, we can’t imagine singing America the Beautiful to any other tune!

“O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountains majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!“

Here’s our 3-5 octave arrangement, recorded last summer.

More information about this arrangement

America the Beautiful is a Level 4 arrangement, with soaring arpeggios and plenty of challenge in each ringing assignment. Sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. You can either buy 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 permission to print up to 15 copies for your group.

Your purchase of the full choir license also grants 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. As part of that agreement, we do ask that you credit the arranger (Larry Sue) and publisher (Choraegus) in any printed media such as concert programs, and online (in video descriptions) where possible. 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!

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.