Author's posts
Jan 28
2015 seems to have started, finally!
It’s nearly the end of January… and it feels as if the year is trying to run away without us! We finally are getting around to releasing a brand new piece! We debuted it in our Alzheimer’s benefit concert on January 23rd. We call it “Grizzly’s Peak”, but you might know it by another title. …
Nov 27
Throwback Thursday
No… this isn’t a reference to how Thanksgiving used to be. Rather, it’s about music! Until recently, all we had for our piece A Snail’s Pace was a simple Finale playback MP3. The notes were there, but the piano patch just didn’t show how it would sound with real-life handbells. But… at the Bay View …
Nov 05
Christmas Roses
We’re heading into Christmas season (well, after “Thanksgiving season” if you live in the USA), and so we’re continuing to refresh and expand our holiday repertoire. Our ringing friend Maria suggested that we might create an eight-bell arrangement of the lovely carol “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”, and we’ve taken some time to put …
Oct 29
It’s time for another “Surprisingly Easy” collection!
We’ve been getting some hopeful messages asking about when we’ll be creating another one of our “Surprisingly Easy” collections. One friend even said that she’s found them to be very useful for teaching her ringers “four in hand” ringing, while others have said they’re having fun. So… we’ve just released our third (!) “Surprisingly Easy” …
Oct 22
Midnight
No… we don’t usually stay up until midnight unless it’s Christmas Eve and we’re playing at our church’s 11:00 p.m. service. But we do get to enjoy Christmas midnight by playing the Puerto Rican carol A la Media Noche! We’ve just added it to the Choraegus store, and hope that you’ll enjoy playing it!
Oct 18
The Most-Requested Handbell Piece of All?
We’ve finally created an arrangement of Mykola Leontovych’s “Ukrainian Bell Carol”, probably better-known as “Carol of the Bells”. We speculate that it’s the most-requested handbell piece of all time, if only because of the title (and Christmas advertisements!). So if you’re a four-in-hand duet, you can have this in your repertoire and not disappoint those …
Oct 14
Advent is soon… and here’s another piece to play!
As you may know, plainchant was one of the great expressions of church music. It’s been that way for hundreds of years – and some of the songs from those times are still with us. We’ve set Divinum Mysterium (aka “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”) for eight handbells, and think it will go well with …
Oct 04
But while you look forward to Christmas… another collection!
We’re gearing up for Christmas (because we have to practice our music now to be ready in time…)! It’s an exciting time of year because we love the holidays so much. We really, really love sharing new music with all of you, because it means you can get something to add to your repertoire as …
Sep 14
Christmas is on the Way!
Yes, it’s pretty early to be thinking about Christmas shopping – but not about rehearsing for the holiday season! Most of the handbell directors (and choral directors, too) we know, start choosing their season’s music in August or September so they can focus on the music when everyone’s together. We’ve posted our first new Christmas …
Aug 11
A New Collection!
We’ve (finally!) put together our first collection of eight-bell hymns! It’s a set of eight arrangements that you can use throughout the year, so you can use it as the bulk of your small ensemble pieces for a whole season (adding in other pieces for Christmas, of course!) – or you can even play them …
