Nov 09

Skye Boat Song – for eight handbells and piano

This soothing, plaintive song is about Prince Charles’ escape to the Isle of Skye after his defeat in the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Our arrangement for eight handbells and piano is fairly easy; you’ll enjoy playing it!

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that’s born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.

Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.

Nov 05

O Give the Lord Wholehearted Praise (GERMANY) – for eight handbells

This hymn first appeared in W. Gardiner’s Sacred Melodies in 1815. Here’s our eight-bell arrangement!

O give the LORD wholehearted praise. / To him thanksgiving I will bring;
with all his people I will raise / my voice and of his glory sing.

His saints delight to search and trace / his mighty works and wondrous ways.
Majestic glory, boundless grace, / and righteousness his work displays.

God’s wondrous deeds of faithfulness / his people ever keep in mind.
His works of love and graciousness / reveal that God the LORD is kind.

God’s promise shall forever stand; / he cares for those who trust his word.
Upon his saints his mighty hand / the wealth of nations has conferred.

His works are true and just indeed; / his precepts are forever sure.
In truth and righteousness decreed, / they shall forevermore endure.

From God his saints’ redemption came; / his covenant sure no change can know.
Let all revere his holy name / in heaven above and earth below.

In reverence and in godly fear / we find the key to wisdom’s ways;
the wise his holy name revere. / Through endless ages sound his praise!

Nov 02

How Great Our Joy (JUNGST) – for six handbells and piano

Joy is celebrated many ways. In this carol, the contrast of soft and loud provides a way to show what handbells can do!

While by the sheep we watched at night, glad tidings brought an angel bright.

How great our joy!
Great our joy!
Joy, joy, joy!
Joy, joy, joy!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of the Christmas carol How Great Our Joy provides an opportunity to play as a two-bells-each trio. Another possibility is to play as a duet where one ringer plays four bells and the other (perhaps a younger/newer player!) plays two bells.

The six bells in the score are accompanied by piano; if you don’t happen to have an accompanist available, we also have an accompaniment MP3 available for purchase.

Oct 29

Funeral Tango – for eight handbells

This somewhat twisted Chopin arrangement/tango/twelve-bar blues came to life as part of the final Low Ding Zone concert series. We’re pleased to offer our seriously boiled-down eight-bell arrangement of this work. Red rose is optional, of course.

Oct 26

Hills of the North, Rejoice – for eight handbells and piano

Hills of the North, Rejoice is usually sung in the United Kingdom as an Advent song. Here’s our arrangement for eight handbells and piano.

Hills of the North, rejoice, river and mountain-spring,
hark to the advent voice; valley and lowland, sing.
Christ comes in righteousness and love, He brings salvation from above.

Isles of the Southern seas, sing to the listening earth,
carry on every breeze hope of a world’s new birth:
In Christ shall all be made anew, His word is sure, His promise true.

Lands of the East, arise, He is your brightest morn,
greet Him with joyous eyes, praise shall His path adorn:
your seers have longed to know their Lord; to you He comes, the final word.

Shores of the utmost West, lands of the setting sun,
welcome the heavenly guest in whom the dawn has come:
He brings a never-ending light who triumphed o’er our darkest night.

Shout, as you journey home, songs be in every mouth,
lo, from the North they come, from East and West and South:
in Jesus all shall find their rest, in Him the universe be blest.

Oct 22

Now the Green Blade Riseth/Sing We Now of Christmas (NOEL NOUVELET) – for six handbells and piano

Here’s a brand new earworm for you – it’s the French tune NOEL NOUVELET in 7/8 meter. There are two hymn titles associated with the melody (Sing We Now of Christmas and Now the Green Blade Riseth), so you can play this two times each year!

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of Now the Green Blade Riseth/Sing We Now of Christmas (hymn tune: NOEL NOUVELET) provides an opportunity to play as a two-bells-each trio. Another possibility is to play as a duet where one ringer plays four bells and the other (perhaps a younger/newer player!) plays two bells.

The six bells in the score are accompanied by piano; if you don’t happen to have an accompanist available, we also have an accompaniment MP3 available for purchase.

Oct 19

For All the Saints (SINE NOMINE) – for eight handbells and piano

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote the music for this hymn in 1906. Strangely (or not!), the hymn tune is SINE NOMINE, which is Latin for “without name”. Whether or not it actually has a name, therefore, is for the philosophers to sort out… but the hymn is probably most often used on All Saints’ Day when those who have passed during the previous twelve months are remembered and celebrated.

Here is our arrangement for eight handbells and piano, available just in time for this year’s All Saints’ Day – but it also makes a wonderful addition to a church service anytime during the year.

For all the saints who from their labors rest, / who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. / Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; / thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. / Alleluia! Alleluia!

O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, / fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win with them the victor’s crown of gold. / Alleluia! Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, / through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, / Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oct 15

Now Thank We All Our God (NUN DANKET) – for eight handbells

In the U.S., Now Thank We All Our God is one of the hymns that makes an annual appearance in November (because of the national Thanksgiving holiday, of course)… but it really can (should?) be played all year round! Here’s a new eight-handbell arrangement for you to play!

Oct 12

Sussex Carol/On This Night All Christians Sing (SUSSEX CAROL) – for six handbells and piano

The Christmas song Sussex Carol is also known by its first lyric line “On this night all Christians sing”. It’s a joyous melody, and we have a wonderful time playing our arrangement of this Christmas carol for six handbells and piano!

On Christmas night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring;
on Christmas night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring:
news of great joy, news of great mirth, news of our merciful King’s birth.

Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of Sussex Carol/On This Night All Christians Sing provides an opportunity to play as a two-bells-each trio. Another possibility is to play as a duet where one ringer plays four bells and the other (perhaps a younger/newer player!) plays two bells.

The six bells in the score are accompanied by piano; if you don’t happen to have an accompanist available, we also have an accompaniment MP3 available for purchase.

Oct 08

Good Christian Men, Rejoice (IN DULCI JUBILO) – for six handbells and piano

Rejoice! Rejoice! The melody in our six-bell-plus-piano arrangement weaves around the accompaniment, creating a joyous setting for the English carol.

Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ was born today.
Ox and ass before him bow, and he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of Good Christian Men, Rejoice (tune: IN DULCI JUBILO) provides an opportunity to play as a two-bells-each trio. Another possibility is to play as a duet where one ringer plays four bells and the other (perhaps a younger/newer player!) plays two bells.

The six bells in the score are accompanied by piano; if you don’t happen to have an accompanist available, we also have an accompaniment MP3 available for purchase.