One of the hymns that (just about) always is included in Easter services is Christ the Lord is Risen Today. The Resurrection is remembered in an “Alleluia!” at the end of every line. Our arrangement …
Ukrainian Bell Carol was first known as “Schedryk”/«Щедрик» when Mykola Leontovych wrote it in 1916. And then… in 1941, Peter Wilhousky wrote the lyrics entitled “Carol of the Bells”, the title under which credit is …
Stanley Myers’ Cavatina, brings a thoughtful air to the listener. Our arrangement for three to five octaves of handbells imitates the openness and simplicity of the original classical guitar score. Your ensemble will find it …
In the Garden is an early twentieth-century Gospel song by C. Austin Miles. It’s about those solitary times when we find the Savior waiting for us in a peaceful place, and spend time rejoicing in …
The title from Joachim Neander’s German 1680 chorale, reads even more impressively in German: Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” has been a church favorite for many …
When Morning Gilds the Skies has… well, that “morning” quality on a cool spring day when the sun rises gently in the east over hills of flowers. Our new arrangement will add to your church …
O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High attempts the impossible task of describing God’s transcendent qualities in mere human words. You can’t explain His eternity in a finite amount of time, nor His omniscience …
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He seeks us when we stray, and guides us when we stay by His side. And one day, He will take us to be in His presence forever. Our two-octave …
We received a question about whether we had an accompanied twelve-bell arrangement of Be Thou My Vision the other day. A quick look at our catalog revealed that we had an unaccompanied twelve-bell arrangement and …
That Easter Day with Joy was Bright is sung to the 15th century hymn tune PUER NOBIS. It’s traditionally sung for Easter, but can be played for Advent asOn Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry. Our …
Today, we’re releasing our new eight-handbell arrangement of “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. It’s a great piece with which to start the new season, especially if you’d like to give your full-size bell choir a bit of additional time to prepare their first piece for service.
Do take a look, and pick up the score for your own ministry!
We’ve just released our arrangement of “Wrong Foot Forward”, a new generation Irish jig by Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen of the band Flook. It’s on their album “Haven” – and it’s a lot of fun!
You might ask yourself why Brian and Sarah chose this title. Well… there are two kinds of Irish jigs. The “regular” ones, usually danced by the men, have two triple beats (six eighth notes) per bar. “Slip jigs”, usually danced by the women, have three triple beats (nine eighth notes) per bar. But…”Wrong Foot Forward” has seven eighth notes per bar – so you can imagine what it will do to the unprepared dancer!
We truly enjoyed hearing Sarah’s rendition of “Wrong Foot Forward”, on which she adeptly plays five minutes of continuous music on a flute that she feeds with ultraquick “snap breaths”. Here’s our version, without having to worry quite as much about breathing!
We’ve just added seven new twelve-handbell arrangements to our catalog! You can play these as anything between a four-in-hand trio to a sextet of ringers with two bells each. And they’re fun, because they’re a bit challenging (well, okay, some of them are just plain challenging!) – but if you practice, you’ll find they have a wonderful sound, and will work well in your concerts of worship services. Do take a look – you’ll find the demonstration videos on the pages for the pieces!
Farandole: We hinted at having an arrangement of Georges Bizet’s famous piece in the previous post. Our twelve-bell score gives each player quite a bit to do, and will be an exciting piece to share with your friends.
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee: This part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is one of the reasons that it’s been a world favorite for over a century.
Morning Has Broken: Cat Stevens helped make this song famous a relatively small number of years ago, but it actually has been around for much longer than that.
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean: You probably have sung this from time to time at campfires, or maybe when you’ve been on the water someplace.
O Worship the King: Twelve-bell hymns are great for any service! This arrangement would be perfect as a prelude or as gathering music.
Shenandoah: This American folk song recalls gentle rivers, gorgeous scenery, and idyllic times.
There is a Fountain: The Christian faith is filled with vivid imagery. This hymn recalls the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
It’s summer, and most of us are in off-season mode. That, of course, is because we traditionally synchronize our handbell (or choir) year to when folks are in town, so that means mid-August to mid-June. When we think of playing bells during the summer, we call around to see who’s available, and see whether we can find music that works.
Good news! If you have only two or three (or four, five, or six) friends who can get together to play in church or for a picnic, we have plenty of music for you to try. Our videos of our eight-bell music are presented as four-in-hand duets, but our friends have played them as trios and quartets as well. We’d like to mention “Ring 4 Glory” of Pacific Grove, California, who have played some of our eight-bell scores.
Our more recently-released twelve-bell scores are loads of fun, too. Who would have thought that Georges Bizet’s famous Farandole could be condensed into just a dozen notes? And we’re planning to add some more to what we have, so drop by now and then to check!
We’ve been excited that our handbell musician friends have liked our “Surprisingly Easy”™ music, especially the collections. We’ve heard lots of stories of how our arrangements have found a home with duets, trios, and quartets. We’ve also seen some really nice videos too!
The news this week is that we’ve added a second “Surprisingly Easy”™ eight-bell hymn collection. Most of them are “golden oldies” because they’ve been in our hymnals for centuries (literally!). But… they’re still great hymns with great lyrics, and we still worship with them today – that’s a testament to how great they are!
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name (CORONATION)
At the Cross
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Jesus Shall Reign
He Keeps Me Singing
Do take a look – we think you’ll love playing these new arrangements!
Difficult times provide opportunities for all-too-rare people to show incredible character. I’ve been following the news a bit in the wake of the church shootings in Charleston – a horrific crime and tremendous injustice – and have been amazed at how the folks at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church are willing to offer forgiveness to the killer despite the loss of their friends and relatives.
Martin Luther, I think, would have commended them for the staunchness of their faith. It’s one thing to acknowledge what the Bible tells you to do, but still another to act on it. Perhaps that’s what the brave monk who, in 1517, posted his 95 Theses at the church at the Wittenberg Castle Church, was thinking about when he wrote the words:
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
A greater hope than that which this life offers awaits us, and it’s founded on the God who made it possible for all men (and women, and children) to be saved from their sin.
As part of our concert with Philadelphia Bronze, we took advantage of our opportunity to work with Martha Alford, their director, to write a new piece for flute plus eight handbells. It’s titled Silver and Bronze, and has a playful mood. Take a look – we think you’ll enjoy it!
We just returned from a terrific weekend in Philadelphia (“just” meaning: “we-had-weather-based-flight-delays-and-had-to-rush-from-gate-to-gate-for-our-connecting-flight-and-had-a-shuttle-driver-who-was-trying-to-find-his-last-passenger-for-our-ride-home-and-didn’t-get-back-until-2:30-a.m.” … but who’s counting?).
Anyway, the concert we shared with Philadelphia Bronze went beautifully, and we had lots of fun making – and making music with – friends who we’ve mostly known only via social media till now. We’re very thankful for their idea to create such a program, and to make it so much fun!
We’re in Philadelphia for the weekend. The reason is wonderful: Philadelphia Bronze has invited us to share a concert with them, so we’re getting share our eight-bell duets with friends who have been online, but who now will be “in real life” friends too!
Today (Friday) is a sightseeing day. We’re going to make the pilgrimage to the Malmark factory, where we’re planning to take a tour to see how they make the bells we play (yes… we know that Schulmerich and Whitechapel also make fine musical instruments!), and will try to spend a bit of time playing some of our music there, perhaps in the parking lot because the factory building makes a great video backdrop? 🙂
We’ve been told more than a few times that we simply *must* have a Philly cheesesteak for lunch. Tim, our rowmate on the plane, said that they’re just not made the right way anywhere else (we’ve heard this nearer home concerning San Francisco sourdough bread…). So we know what’s for lunch!
There’ll be more news to come – if you want to get the first-run news, check at the Larry and Carla site!
We’ve recorded our practice tracks as an MP3 of the score with an overlaid click track. If you need to vary tempo for your rehearsal, you can make this adjustment via apps such as AudiPo or ASD (Amazing Slow Downer).