We’ve arranged a number of classical works for handbells. Some are relatively straightforward, while others present a fun challenge. One of the latter is our arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz for sixteen handbells. Your four-in-hand quartet will have a great time with this nineteenth-century piece… but if you might also give it a go …
Category: Classical Music
Jan 05
Merry Twelfth Day of Christmas!
For the twelfth day of Christmas, I’ve decided to take a slightly different tack in this post. In 1892, Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write a series of twelve pieces for a music magazine. The collection is called The Seasons. Sometime ago, I arranged The Seasons for two octaves of handbells. When Carla and I recorded …
Dec 24
Merry Christmas!
As I write this from our home in Michigan, the storms pummeling most of the country have brought us lots of white, fluffy snow. It’s been accumulating all over our neighborhood, and has been constantly falling because of the “lake effect”. We love it here in winter! We hope you’ve had a good year, wherever …
Dance of the Sugar Plum Sumo Fairy (Bay View Week of Handbells Version) – Bass handbell ensemble
Tchaikovsky created one of the all-time holiday season favorites when he wrote the Nutcracker Suite in 1892. There’s a good chance you’ve seen more than just a small part of it at a December ballet presentation. The Dance of the Candy Fairy (or Sugar Plum Fairy) was a sensation at its premiere, because Tchaikovsky chose …
Sep 22
It’s Our Anniversary!
Today is our tenth anniversary! Not Choraegus (we celebrated 26 years at the end of last year), but OURS, as in Larry & Carla. From God making it possible for us to meet on the Handbell Community Online, to Facebook, to Skype, and through the Bay View Week of Handbells, where we met and got …
List of Scores for Handbell Choir
Here’s a quick compilation of our scores for handbell choir (including our sixteen-bell pieces, which are two or three octaves, depending range selected). Each title is a link to the corresponding webpage. TITLE HYMN TUNE Level Oct. Bells Oct. Chimes Comment ABC | DEF | GHI | JKLM | NOP | QRS | TUV | …
List of Classical Scores for Twelve Handbells
Here’s a quick compilation of our classical scores for twelve handbells. Each title is a link to the corresponding webpage. TITLE HYMN TUNE Accompaniment available Barcarolle Farandole Holy is the Lord HOLY IS THE LORD
List of Classical Scores for Eight Handbells
Here’s a quick compilation of our classical scores for eight handbells. Each title is a link to the corresponding webpage. TITLE HYMN TUNE Standard “Surprisingly Easy”™ Accompaniment available Bach – Arioso x Bach – Sheep May Safely Graze x Beethoven – Ode to Joy x Charpentier – Prelude from “Te Deum” x Chopsticks x Elgar …
Tchaikovsky – The Seasons (Opus 37a) – (Handbells, Two Octaves, Level 3 to 5+)
Nikolay Bernard, the editor of the music magazine Nouvellist, commissioned Tchaikovsky to write a suite of twelve piano solos. They were released, in turn, each month of 1876. Because of the year-round theme, the pieces in this collection were entitled The Seasons, and they have remained gems in the piano repertoire. These delightful works are …
Crush Collision March (handbells, 3 to 6 octaves, Level 4)
Scott Joplin’s genius as the King of Rag shines in this arrangement of his Crush Collision March. The music depicts a long railroad track with two steam locomotives and the cars they’re pulling. The problem is that the two trains are headed toward each other at full tilt, and are unaware of each other until …
