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.

Oct 07

“Dual-Range”™ Eight-Bell Music!

We’ve been hearing about how some ringers out there have wondered why our eight-bell music was written in the range G5-G6. The main issue that came up was that playing those pieces as a quartet would result in “nontraditional” ringing assignments (say, G5/A5 rather than A5/B5). Why not, say, write using F5-F6?

The reason is that there’s a casting size change between F5/F#5 and G5. This results in F5/F#5 having a noticeably mellower sound than G5 and higher bells; there also is a significant difference in weight that can be problematic for a four-in-hand ringer with the lower bells. So our music takes advantage of the more consistent timbre and weight that’s found using the octave that starts from G5. Nevertheless, we do understand that learning “left = space, right = line” is a simple and effective way to teach people how to correlate their notes with their bells!

So for those who prefer thinking that way, we’ve made (almost) all of our unaccompanied eight-bell scores “dual-range”™! Each dual-range score (at the same price as before) has two copies of the music:

  • One based on G5-G6, so you can hear the music as it was originally intended to sound, and
  • One based on F5-F6, in case you prefer to have all or mostly space-line pairs of notes.

Cool rehearsal/performance hint: If you want the music to sound as originally composed, but prefer “space-line” assignments, all you have to do is assign from the G5-based score, and read from the F5-based score!

Thank you for all your support and encouragement as we’ve continued publishing new music for handbells!

Oct 05

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (ST. GEORGE’S WINDSOR) – for eight handbells and piano

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come is most often sung in the United States at Thanksgiving. It’s a harvest-is-over song that uses bringing the crop from the fields as an illustration of God bringing His saints home after they’ve completed their earthly responsibilities.

Here’s our arrangement of this hymn for eight handbells and piano.

Come, ye thankful people, come, / raise the song of harvest home;
all is safely gathered in, / ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide / for our wants to be supplied;
come to God’s own temple, come, / raise the song of harvest home.

Oct 01

Chopsticks – for eight handbells

There’s a famous story about how a little boy found his way onto the great Ignacy Paderewski’s piano bench before a concert, and, oblivious to the audience, began playing Euphemia Allen’s world-famous 1877 hit Chopsticks. The ticket-holders in the seats were shocked, and angrily wanted the child removed. Paderewski, however, walked up behind the bench and added his mavelous skills to the mix, and kept whispering in the boy’s ear, “Keep going. Don’t quit, son. Keep playing. Don’t stop. Don’t quit.” I wish we could all be so encouraging and gracious!

However, this story is completely made up. What’s not fictitious is our eight-bell arrangement of Chopsticks, available for your ringing pleasure here!

Sep 28

O Little Town of Bethlehem (FOREST GREEN) – for six handbells plus piano

his Christmas carol reflects the quiet joy of the Savior’s birth.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of O Little Town of Bethlehem (hymn tune: FOREST GREEN) 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.

Sep 24

Blessed Assurance (ASSURANCE) – for eight handbells and piano

Our arrangement of Blessed Assurance for eight handbells and piano will work well with your small handbell ensemble (duet, trio, or quartet)!

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

    This is my story, this is my song,
    Praising my Savior, all the day long;
    This is my story, this is my song,
    Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

Sep 21

Angels We Have Heard On High (GLORIA) – for six handbells plus piano

Our piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of Angels We Have Heard On High (hymn tune: GLORIA) 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.