Newness is one of our very special compositions for handbell choir. In addition to being written for three or five octaves of handbells/handchimes, it’s possible to play it at Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3. The difference between the Level 2 and Level 3 versions is simply whether or not you choose to use …
Category: Choraegus
May 02
What’s our easiest handbell choir piece?
Sometimes we’re asked which of our pieces for handbell choir is the easiest. Hands down, it’s Celebration. This piece is AGEHR Level 1; for those of you not familiar with what that means, the score has nothing smaller than a quarter note. The piece itself is composed of big block chords; if you’re ringing it, …
Apr 29
Free sheet music is fun!
We love to give people a chance to see what we do at Choraegus. Like everyone else, we provide contact information so that you can ask questions or make suggestions. That’s all normal; you’re supposed to be available to deal with what happens. However, we also want you to be able to try out a …
Feb 28
To God Be the Glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY) (Handbells, 3 or 5 octaves, Level 4)
Fanny Crosby and William Doane were a “dynamic duo” of hymn-writing in the decades on either side of the year 1900. She wrote the words, and he composed the music. One of their best-known hymns is To God Be the Glory Personal note: This was the favorite hymn of Larry’s great-aunt Pat. Our new arrangement …
SUNRISE [OMNI DIE] – Eight handbells
The SUNRISE hymn tune (also titled OMNI DIE) from the eighteenth century is paired with with several different texts: At Thy Feet, O Christ We Lay Spirit Working in Creation Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary At thy feet, O Christ, we lay thine own gift of this new day; doubt of what it holds in …
Dec 19
Merry Christmas 2023!
As usual, our December has been our busy performance season. People associate handbells with Christmas, so that’s when they book us. We’ve been at some fun places: Holland Kerstmarkt. Between Thanksgiving and mid-December, we were the ambience for our city’s Dutch Christmas market. It’s an outdoor event, so we pre-chill our bells, bundle up, and …
Nov 27
Ding Dong, Merrily on High – for eight handbells
The sixteenth-century English tune Ding Dong, Merrily on High is quite popular at Christmas. It reflects the joy of the season, and invites us to share in the joy of heaven at the birth of the Son of God. Here’s our eight-bell arrangement – enjoy! Ding dong merrily on high, In heav’n the bells are …
Nov 13
And now, a second eight-bell version of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”!
We’ve had an eight-bell version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (hymn tune CAROL – the one most frequently heard in the USA) for over ten years. It’s one of my personal favorites; however, it does provide a bit of a challenge to the ringers. So… we’ve just published a second, somewhat less difficult, …
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN) – Twelve handbells
The title from Joachim Neander’s German 1680 chorale, reads even more impressively in German: Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” has been a church favorite for many years – after all, our very lives depend on God and His infinite power. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, …
Sep 30
Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow – Twelve-Handbell Version
Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow is an African-American Christmas spiritual. It’s about the message that drew the shepherds (well, at least one shepherd) to follow the Christmas star to find the Christ Child. The spiritual is a “call and response” song – one way it’s been done in many Black churches is to have the …
