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!
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!
This year has seen an exciting development; after years of publishing handbell music only on our Choraegus website, Larry has branched out, just slightly, and now has several pieces available from Sheet Music Plus. The SMP site has been a huge help when arranging titles that are still under copyright, especially when communicating with copyright holders directly proved to be less than successful.
We’re excited about our recent Christmas arrangements! The first is Larry’s arrangement of Winter Wonderland. Richard Bernhard Smith wrote the lyrics for this song in 1934, and Felix Bernard added the tune. There have now been more than 200 covers of this music!
Sleigh bells ring – are you listenin’? In the lane snow is glist’nin’, A beautiful sight, We’re happy tonight. Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland!
Our five-octave handbell arrangement is Level 5, which makes it a fun challenge for handbell choirs. We enjoyed making our demonstration video!
“Silver bells, silver bells, It’s Christmas time in the city, Ring-a-ling, hear them ring, Soon it will be Christmas Day.“
This 3-7 octave Level 4 arrangement provides an opportunity to feature handchimes or “alternate bells”. We used Silver Melody Bells in our demonstration, but you could use Whitechapel handbells, or Petit and Fritsens if you have them. Maybe even a bell tree! Alternatively, just use chimes, or stick with all bells. You’ll still be transported back to Christmas time in a city long ago!
Another Christmas arrangement is I Wonder as I Wander. In 1933, John Jacob Niles heard a bit of music from Annie Morgan, a Appalachian girl, and used it as the basis of his song. This medium-difficulty arrangement for just 8 handbells provides ample room to express the interpretation of the carol. Two transpositions, F5-A6 and Eb5-G6, are provided, the latter fitting within the range of a two-octave set of handbells. We enjoyed having a snowy backdrop for our demonstration video, because the snow arrived early in Michigan last winter, and stayed for a while!
Continuing with Christmas music, Carol of the Drum is one of our most popular 8-bell arrangements. Written by Katherine Davis in 1941, the tune is based on a traditional Czech Christmas carol, and most often known as Little Drummer Boy. Our 8-bell arrangement is available in two versions; one more straightforward than the other.
This popular Harry Bollbank song is now available for 8 handbells, with piano accompaniment. Both the handbell part and the piano part are straightforward to play.
Moving away from the holiday season, and towards the sunny summer months, Bring Me Sunshine was written by Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee in 1966. In the UK, it was used for many years as the theme song for the popular comedy show Morecambe & Wise. Larry’s arrangement is for 3 octaves of handbells, and it’s fun to play. If you need a charming, lighthearted selection for your spring program, this Level 3 arrangement fills the bill!
The beautiful, haunting classical guitar work Cavatina was written by Stanley Myers. It was based on music originally written for the movie The Walking Stick in 1970. Myers expanded the piece, and it was recorded by guitarist John Williams. It’s now most famous as the theme tune for the 1978 film The Deer Hunter. Larry’s arrangement of Cavatina is for 3 or 5 octaves of handbells.
We hope you’ll enjoy browsing our selection of handbell music on Sheet Music Plus. You’ll find more of Larry’s arrangements there soon! If there are any popular songs you’d like to see an arrangement for, you’re always welcome to contact us to suggest it. As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!
Silver Bells is a wonderfully nostalgic Christmas song from the 1950s. It was written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, and was used in the 1951 movie The Lemon Drop Kid. It was first sung by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, and has since been recorded by many others, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis, Michael Bublé and The Temptations. We recently had fun arranging and recording a brand-new arrangement of Silver Bells for handbells!
Silver Bells is a Level 4 arrangement for 3-7 octaves of handbells and 3 octaves of handchimes. If you don’t have handchimes, you could still play it without them, but the chimes definitely add an interesting texture. We have some borrowed Silver Melody Bells, so we used those instead of the handchimes at the beginning and end of the piece, so that’s another option if you have “alternate” bells, like Petit and Fritsens or Whitechapels. You could even use malleted bells on a bell tree. You get to decide how creative you want to be!
The score for Silver Bells is available to download from Sheet Music Plus/Sheet Music Direct, either as a single copy (for massed ringing events, or as a preview) and as a full-choir version. If you’d like to find out more about purchase options, please visit our Choraegus website!
Other recent Christmas titles from Choraegus
Winter Wonderland
Larry’s recent 5-octave arrangement of Winter Wonderland is an exciting challenge for advanced handbell choirs! This piece is available from Sheet Music Plus, in either a single-copy version, or a full-choir score. Find out more on our music site!
Ukrainian Carol of the Bells
This 5-7 octave, Level 4 arrangement makes the perfect concert-closer or encore piece for a holiday concert! Sheet music is available to download from Choraegus.
There are lots more Christmas and holiday arrangements available from Choraegus, so please feel welcome to browse our music site! If there are any Christmas carols or songs you’d like to see an arrangement for, you’re always welcome to contact us to suggest it. As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!
