The traditional Gaelic tune BUNESSAN is better known to most of us as the music to the popular hymn Morning Has Broken (popularized by Cat Stevens in the 1970s). Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of the hymn tune BUNESSAN provides an opportunity to play as a two-bells-each trio. Another possibility is to play as a duet …
Category: Twelve-Bell
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee – Twelve handbells
Beethoven wrote nine symphonies. He was an amazing composer, creating wonderful music during his later years even though he had gone deaf. One of his best known symphonic melodies in the choral world is the “Ode to Joy” from his final symphony, the tune for the hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee. Joyful, joyful, we …
Shenandoah – Twelve handbells
The American folk tune Shenandoah, also known as “Across the Wide Missouri”, speaks of journeying through the American Midwest. It’s idyllic tune has inspired many settings – and here’s the twelve-bell one! O Shenandoah, I long to hear you Away, you rolling river O Shenandoah, I long to hear you Away, I’m bound away ‘Cross …
We Three Kings – Twelve handbells
We Three Kings tells of special visitors on the first Epiphany. Well… in actuality the Bible doesn’t say precisely how many wise men visited the Christ Child in the Bethlehem manger. But it does record that they brought three special gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh – so that seems to hint that there might …
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (CAROL) – Twelve handbells
Edmund Sears wrote the words to It Came Upon the Midnight Clear in 1849, and it’s sung on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean (just with different tunes). This arrangement is to the American melody, CAROL, composed by Richard Storrs Willis. It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, From angels bending …
Ding Dong, Merrily on High – Twelve-Handbell Version
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. Ding dong merrily on high, / In heav’n the bells are ringing: Ding dong! verily the …
Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella – Twelve handbells
In this charming sixteenth-century French carol Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella, a young girl is sent to bring a torch/candle to bring light to the stable where the Christ Child sleeps. Un flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle, Un flambeau, courons au berceau! C’est Jésus, bonnes gens du hameau, Le Christ est né, Marie appelle, Ah! Ah! que …
Angels We Have Heard on High – Twelve handbells
The Christmas carol Angels We Have Heard on High, sung to the French tune GLORIA is one of rejoicing! Angels we have heard on high, Sweetly singing o’er the plains And the mountains in reply, Echoing their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains …
Twelve-Bell Christmas
If you have three to six ringers available for a holiday performance, our twelve-bell Christmas music is for you! There are about twenty arrangements here; if you have all of them, that’s about an hour of music! You’ll find these pieces to be solid concert repertoire as well, so they can be used to create …
Greensleeves/What Child is This? – Twelve handbells
There are many stories about Greensleeves. Some historical references say that Henry VIII wrote it… but it had to be someone else because it was written after he’d died. However, it was “on the charts” by Shakespeare’s time, so it’s been around for quite a while, and often appears during Christmas in the form of …
