Jul 06

Be Thou My Vision (SLANE) – for twelve handbells

We have a new twelve-bell arrangement of Be Thou My Vision!

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun
Heart of my own heart, whate’er befall
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Purchasing this 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score, if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 30

Doxology (OLD HUNDREDTH) (Handbells, 3 to 5 octaves plus optional D8, Level 1)

The Doxology is sung in churches around the world, often as a congregational response to the presentation of tithes and offerings. We have two versions in our handbell choir package based on the hymn tune OLD HUNDREDTH so that you can use the one which is more familiar to your church family. Both versions are in G major, the key in which the Doxology is presented in most hymnals.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Purchasing the handbell choir version of this arrangement grants permission to print and maintain up to fifteen copies for your handbell ensemble. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 27

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (NETTLETON) – for twelve handbells

John Wyeth or Asahel Nettleton wrote this lovely hymn tune back in 1813, and the message of the lyrics that are set to it continue to comfort and inspire Christians today. You’ll enjoy playing our new twelve-bell arrangement!

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

Purchasing this 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score, if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 23

Smiles (Handbells, 4-5 octaves, plus handchimes, 2 octaves, Level 3+)

Smiles, written in 1917 by J. Will Callahan and Lee S. Roberts, is a song about the happiness brought by a dear one’s smile. We have a special, albeit indirect, attachment to this song, because in front of one cottage at the Bay View Association there’s a sign that declares that this cute little song was written there! We invite you to take a look at our new arrangement of Smiles for four or five octaves of handbells.

Dearie, now I know just what makes me love you so,
Just what holds me and enfolds me in its golden glow;
Dearie, now I see ’tis each smile so bright and free,
For life’s sadness turns to gladness when you smile on me.

There are smiles that make us happy / There are smiles that make us blue,
There are smiles that steal away the teardrops as the sunbeams steal away the dew.
There are smiles that have a tender meaning that the eyes of love alone may see,
And the smiles that fill my life with sunshine are the smiles that you give to me.

Dearie, when you smile everything in life’s worthwhile,
Love grows fonder as we wander down each magic mile,
Cheery melodies seem to float upon the breeze,
Doves are cooing while they’re wooing in the leafy trees.

There are smiles that make us happy / There are smiles that make us blue,
There are smiles that steal away the teardrops as the sunbeams steal away the dew.
There are smiles that have a tender meaning that the eyes of love alone may see,
And the smiles that fill my life with sunshine are the smiles that you give to me.

Purchasing the handbell choir version of this arrangement grants permission to print and maintain up to fifteen copies for your handbell ensemble; purchasing the single copy version grants permission to print and maintain one copy. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 21

Children of the Heavenly Father (TRYGGARE KAN INGEN VARA) – for twelve handbells

If you’ve been going to church for a while, you or your children have probably sung (the translation of) this Swedish hymn. Here’s our arrangement for twelve handbells!

Children of the heavenly Father
Safely in His bosom gather;
Nestling bird nor star in heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given.

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever;
Unto them His grace He showeth,
And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children ne’er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.

Tryggare kan ingen vara,
Än Guds lilla barnaskara,
Stjärnan ej på himlafästet,
Fågeln ej i kända nästet.

Ingen nöd och ingen lycka,
Skall utur Hans hand dem rycka,
Han vår vän för andra vänner,
Sina barns bekymmer känner.

Se Han räknar håren alla,
Som från deras huvud falla,
Han oss föder och oss kläder,
Under sorgen Han oss gläder.

Purchasing this 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score, if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 16

Doxology (OLD HUNDREDTH) – for eight handbells

The Doxology is sung in churches around the world, often as a congregational response to the presentation of tithes and offerings. We have two versions in our score package based on the hymn tune OLD HUNDREDTH so that you can use the one which is more familiar to your church family.

Additionally, our score package contains two transpositions. The first is G5-G6, our usual eight-bell range. The second is D5-D6, which accommodates space-line assignments (for a quartet) and which also is the traditional singing key in most hymnals.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

AND: This arrangement is free for you to download as a gift from Choraegus!

Purchasing this 8-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment/instrumental score(s), if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

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Jun 14

Tchaikovsky – The Seasons (handbells, two octaves, Level 3 to 5+)

In 2013, we published eight eight-handbell arrangements of selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. That was an exciting time for us, because we were preparing to do preshow for a local ballet company, and wanted to give them a nice surprise. Yes… they were surprised!

This time, we have a surprise for you! Nikolay Bernard, the editor of the music magazine Nouvellist, comissioned Tchaikovsky was commissioned 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 now available as two-octave handbell arrangements. They’re challenging (Level 3 to 5+), so if you have seven to twelve intrepid ringers who want to stretch their wings, they’re going to have lots of fun mastering them. We’ve made them available separately – that way, you can test the waters by buying one arrangement. There also are two collections-of-six (January-June and July-December) that give you six pieces for the price of five.

Featured below is June: Barcarolle, one of the most familiar (and easiest) of the collection.

Jun 09

I Saw Three Ships – for twelve handbells

I Saw Three Ships is an English carol that dates back to the seventeenth or eighteenth century. Some people think that the “three ships” were the camels (aka “ships of the desert”) that the Magi rode on their way from the east to Bethlehem. Whether or not this is the reference made by the text, the carol has remained a favorite for centuries – and now it’s available from Choraegus as a new twelve-bell work!

Our new arrangement of this Christmas song for twelve handbells has versions in Bb major (C5-G5) and C major (D5-A6), so be sure to use the BUCs on the webpage to verify that you have all of the bells you need.

I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day in the morning.

And who was in those ships all three on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
And who was in those ships all three on Christmas Day in the morning?

Our Saviour Christ and his ladye on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
Our Saviour Christ and his ladye on Christmas Day in the morning.

Pray whither sailed those ships all three on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
Pray whither sailed those ships all three on Christmas Day in the morning?

O they sailed into Bethlehem on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
O they sailed into Bethlehem on Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the bells on Earth shall ring on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the bells on Earth shall ring on Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the angels in Heaven shall sing on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the angels in Heaven shall sing on Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the souls on Earth shall sing on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the souls on Earth shall sing on Christmas Day in the morning.

Purchasing this 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score, if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 06

From Starry Skies Descending – for twelve handbells

The Italian carol Tu scendi dalle stelle is lovely, though perhaps less familiar to Americans than others. Our new twelve-bell arrangement will bring a new bit of joy to your holiday services and celebrations.

Our new arrangement of this Christmas song for twelve handbells has versions in Bb major (C5-G5) and C major (D5-A6), so be sure to use the BUCs on the webpage to verify that you have all of the bells you need.

Tu scendi dalle stelle,
O Re del Cielo,
e vieni in una grotta,
al freddo al gelo.

O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato
Ahi, quanto ti costò
l’avermi amato!
A te, che sei del mondo

il Creatore,
mancano panni e fuoco;
O mio Signore!

Caro eletto Pargoletto,
Quanto questa povertà
più mi innamora!
Giacché ti fece amor
povero ancora!

From starry skies descending,
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter’s icy sting;

O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd’ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff’ring Thou didst bear,
That I near Thee might be!
Thou art the world’s Creator,

God’s own and true Word,
Yet here no robe, no fire
For Thee, Divine Lord.

Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,
Dire this state of poverty.
The more I care for Thee,
Since Thou, O Love Divine,
Will’st now so poor to be.

Purchasing this 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group (plus the accompaniment score, if part of the purchase) – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Jun 02

This is My Father’s World (handbells, 3 or 5 octaves, plus handchimes, 1 octave, Level 3-)

The world around us testifies of God’s greatness. Bible passages such as Psalm 19 remind us of this, and the natural wonders that greet our eyes – sunrises? sunsets? trees? stars? – are further testimony to what He’s done. We have a new arrangement of the hymn This My Father’s World for your choir to play!

Purchasing the handbell choir version of this arrangement grants permission to print and maintain up to fifteen copies for your handbell ensemble; purchasing the single copy version grants permission to print and maintain one copy. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.