Tag Archives: Pop music for handbells

Forever Autumn – for Handbells

Forever Autumn was written by Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne and Paul Vigrass. It was recorded by Justin Hayward, of The Moody Blues, in 1978, for the album Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds. The single reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart in 1978, and peaked at #47 in the USA.

It’s one of the most beautiful, if one of the most melancholy, songs in living memory.

“The summer sun is fading as the year grows old
And darker days are drawing near
The winter winds will be much colder
Now you’re not here.“

Forever Autumn is now available for handbells! Even though the song is a sad one, we enjoyed putting together our demo recording.

More information about Forever Autumn

Forever Autumn is for 5octaves of handbells, with 3 octaves of handchimes.

If you’d like to find out more about this arrangement, and other arrangements and original compositions for handbell choir, visit our Choraegus website. Alternatively, click below to go directly to Sheet Music Plus!

Take me to Sheet Music Plus!

Other 1960s/1970s pop song arrangements from Choraegus

If you’re a fan of 1960s and ’70s pop tunes, you might also enjoy a couple of other arrangements available from Choraegus (and Sheet Music Plus). Click on the titles to find out more!

  • Close to You: A big hit for The Carpenters in 1970, this Level 4 arrangement for 3-7 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes will make your audience want to sing along!
  • Those Were the Days: This Gene Raskin song was a hit for Mary Hopkin in 1968. This fun Level 3+ arrangement for 5-7 octaves will delight your audience!
    Show me more full-choir handbell arrangements!

    Any questions? Ideas and suggestions?

    If you have any suggestions for more pop music you’d like to see arranged for handbells, you’re always welcome to contact us and let us know!

    Forever Autumn - for handbells, arranged by Larry Sue

    Those Were the Days – for Handbells and Kazoo!

    “Those were the days, my friend,
    We thought they’d never end,
    We’d sing and dance forever and a day.
    We’d live the life we choose    ; we’d fight and never lose,
    For we were young and sure to have our way    .”

    Our latest handbell recording project is an exciting one! The song Those Were the Days was a top 10 hit in 1968, sung by Mary Hopkin. It started life as a Russian song – Дорогой длинною – which translates as By the Long Road. Boris Fomin composed the melody originally, with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky. Gene Raskin put English lyrics to the song, made a few changes to the melody, and a popular song was born! The song has now been recorded by many artists, in over twenty languages… and now it’s available for handbells!

    (THOSE WERE THE DAYS Words and Music by Gene Raskin TRO-© Copyright 1962 (Renewed) 1968 (Renewed) Essex Music, Inc., New York, NY. International Copyright Secured. Made in U.S.A. All Rights Reserved, Including Public Performance For Profit. Used by Permission.)

    More about Those Were the Days

    Those Were the Days handbells

    Our arrangement is for 5-7 octaves of handbells, with some optional additional instruments – mandolin, tambourine, flute, wood block and… kazoo! We asked our expert flute-playing friend Rose Wiersma to join us for our demonstration video. Rose directs the Zeeland Community Band, and we’ve played handbells in some of their performances over the last few years. We didn’t know any expert kazoo players, so we had to play that part ourselves. Our mandolin skills are non-existent (and we don’t have a mandolin), but the interesting “thumb-damp shake” technique in the score makes it possible to manage without the mandolin and still achieve a similar effect. We had a lot of fun playing this piece, and we hope you will too!

    Those Were the Days handbells

    Where to find the sheet music

    Sheet music for Those Were the Days is available to purchase, download and print 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. See our licensing agreement for full details. 

    Choraegus handbell music will 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.

    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!

    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.

    Those Were the Days for handbells