Happy New Year to all of you (or as they say in some places, “all y’all”)! We’ve had a fun year finding videos and receiving emails about who’s been playing our music. The greatest number of stories are about our eight-handbell repertoire. Most of what we’ve seen is videos of four-in-hand duets or one-bell-in-each-hand quartets …
Category: Choraegus
Bass Ringer’s Notebook, Second Edition
The Bass Ringer’s Notebook has been a reference work for bucket slingers since 2007. The second edition provides updated information, new ideas, and illustrations with matching YouTube videos that show how to perform with your bass bells. Topics include: Lifting Bass Bells – Every note played on every handbells starts with a lift. With bass …
How to Purchase Music from Choraegus
It’s simple! Find each piece of music that you want to buy, and press the “Add to Cart” button to put it into your (electronic) shopping cart. Check the quantity of each piece you’re ordering to be sure you’re getting the correct number for your needs. For details, please see our Licensing Agreement. When you’ve …
Oct 27
Five (5 octaves of handbells)
Our fifth anniversary was approaching, so I wanted to give Carla something special. This original composition was the result, and the handbell choir at our church in Holland, Michigan premiered it as the prelude in the services on our anniversary weekend. It’s entitled Five, and can be a treasure hunt for you and your ringers …
Oct 23
Accompanied twelve-bell music for Christmas!
We usually play unaccompanied eight-handbell music. Maybe that’s because it’s easier to get together to practice; only two of us have to head to the rehearsal room. However, we do realize that many of you may have larger groups, or might want to include a pianist. So we have a couple of new Christmas arrangements …
Sep 06
Elysium
Elysium was commissioned from our friend Susan Nelson by Laurie and Rusty Sanders. It’s a thoughtful, pensive piece for three to five octaves of handbells plus optional flute descant. After a very brief time on “out of print” status, we’ve brought it back in the Choraegus catalog. Do check it out!
Jul 24
The Bass Ringer’s Notebook, Second Edition
Exciting news! When Above the Line Publishing decided to ride off into the sunset, it took the original Bass Ringer’s Notebook with it. Quite a few bass handbell ringers already had copies, but there were those who still were looking for a copy of their own. The need still existed! We’re thrilled to announce that …
May 24
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
We’ve gotten a lot closer to settling into life in Michigan – it’s been part of the adventure that started when we moved from California in 2016. Now everything is pretty much in place in our new home, and the blue spruces in the woods are happily growing new bits as spring rolls into summer. …
Apr 15
“Tigress Rag” for piano!
Scott Joplin, who is often regarded as the “King of Ragtime Music”, wrote for a variety of instrumental ensembles, but his primary instrument was the piano. So… the thought finally arose: Choraegus has the Tigress Rag as a piece for five to seven octaves of handbells. It was the second-place finisher in the “All That …
Mar 07
The Boys of Bluehill
Hornpipes and jigs were two of the exciting additions to our repertoire over the past three or four years. In case you haven’t played many of them and were wondering about thematic structure, jigs often (but not always!) have the pattern AA, BB, CC, DD, etc. and can be chained together to add to the …
