Feb 28

To God Be the Glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY) (Handbells, 3 or 5 octaves, Level 4)

Fanny Crosby and William Doane were a “dynamic duo” of hymn-writing in the decades on either side of the year 1900. She wrote the words, and he composed the music. One of their best-known hymns is To God Be the Glory Personal note: This was the favorite hymn of Larry’s great-aunt Pat. Our new arrangement for three or five octaves of handbells is an exciting journey into the glory of God!

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us his Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the lifegate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory; great things He has done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer and higher and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

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.

Find Larry and Carla on Facebook!

Feb 15

Beautiful Lilies (LILIES) (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 3+)

Beautiful Lilies (hymn tune: LILIES) is an Easter hymn from the turn of the twentieth century. The Easter lily is a symbol of resurrection, and symbolizes the trumpet of victory that proclaims that Jesus has risen from the grave. Our arrangement for three octaves of handbells has a charm that will keep the song in your mind!

Beautiful lilies, / White as the snow,

Speak to us softly / Of long ago;

Telling of Jesus, / Who from the grave

Rose all victorious, / Mighty to save.

Refrain:

Beautiful lilies, / White as the snow,

Speak to us softly / Of long ago;

Beautiful lilies, / Beautiful lilies,

Speak to us softly / Of long ago.

Lilies of Easter, / Blossoms of spring,

Wake from their slumber / Gladness to bring.

O they are ever / Heaven’s bright sign

Of life beyond us, / Endless, divine.

E’en as our Father / From winter’s night

Waketh the lilies / To summer’s light,

So His dear children / His love will keep,

Waking them softly / from death’s long sleep.

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.

Find Larry and Carla on Facebook!

Jan 22

Lift High the Cross (CRUCIFER) (Handbells, 3 or 5 octaves, Level 3-)

Lift High the Cross undoubtedly is most frequently sung in churches at Easter (and maybe on through Pentecost), but the message of salvation through Christ rings true the whole year round. Our arrangement for three or five octaves of handbells will be a welcome addition to your repertoire.

Refrain: Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.

Come, Christians, follow where the Master trod,
our King victorious, Christ the Son of God.

O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
your death has brought us life eternally.

So shall our song of triumph ever be:
praise to the Crucified for victory!

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.

Find Larry and Carla on Facebook!

Jan 15

Mack the Knife (Handbells, 5-8 octaves, plus handchimes, 3 octaves, Level 5)

Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill wrote Mack the Knife in 1928 for the Threepenny Opera. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitgerald, and Bobby Darin performed it, guaranteeing its place in our music social awareness. It’s such a happy, bouncy song that you’d hardly know it was talking about a hit man. But the legend lives on, and we’re thrilled to present our arrangement of this classic for five to seven octaves of handbells and three octaves of handchimes.

This arrangement isn’t for the faint of heart, being a solid Level 5 score – but it’s just SO much fun to play! The line forms to the right… old Macky’s back in town!

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear / And it shows them pearly white.
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe / And he keeps it, ah, out of sight.

You know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe / Scarlet billows start to spread.
Fancy gloves, oh, wears old MacHeath, babe / So there’s never, never a trace of red.

Now on the sidewalk, huh, huh, whoo sunny morning, un huh / Lies a body just oozin’ life, eek.
And someone’s sneakin’ ’round the corner / Could that someone be Mack the Knife?

There’s a tugboat, huh, huh, down by the river don’tcha know / Where a cement bag’s just a-droppin’ on down.
Oh, that cement is just, it’s there for the weight, dear / Five’ll get ya ten, old Macky’s back in town.

Now did ya hear ’bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe / After drawin’ out all his hard-earned cash.
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor / Could it be our boy’s done somethin’ rash?

Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry / Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown.
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe / Now that Macky’s back in town.

I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry / Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown.
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe / Now that Macky’s back in town.

Look out, old Macky’s back!

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.

Jan 10

Mahler Swing (Handbells, 5-8 octaves, plus handchimes, 2 octaves, Level 5)

I fell in love with Mahler’s symphonies a long time ago. They’re gigantic works which stretch the limits (so far…) of how musical expression can be built. As of the twentieth century, they represent the pinnacle of orchestral composing.

Mahler’s first symphony is about an hour in length (around three times the length of Mozart’s symphonies, and nearly twice as long as Beethoven’s). Arranging the entire work would result in a very, very large score. The use of thematic material, however, allows a bit of “compression”.

Several decades after Mahler’s time came the Swing Era, with luminaries such as Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Count Basie (and by no means is this an exhaustive list!). This was some of the popular music of the 1930s and 1940s, and the hits from that time endure to the present.

So… the thought crossed my mind: What about melding Mahler and the Swing Era for handbells? The result is the Mahler Swing, which takes elements of the first movement of Mahler’s first symphony and makes them swing. The result is a piece that’s a marvelous earworm!

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.

Dec 19

Merry Christmas 2023!

As usual, our December has been our busy performance season. People associate handbells with Christmas, so that’s when they book us. We’ve been at some fun places:

  • Holland Kerstmarkt. Between Thanksgiving and mid-December, we were the ambience for our city’s Dutch Christmas market. It’s an outdoor event, so we pre-chill our bells, bundle up, and look forward to making our local event even more exciting.
  • Otsego Hometown Christmas. Otsego is a town about an hour from home between Holland and Kalamazoo. Like the Kerstmarkt, this was an outdoor event, and we were thankful for the opportunity to gather round one of the firepits after we were done making music.
  • Community organizations. We presented Christmas concerts at retirement communities and a library. These were every-other-year sorts of opportunities, so we enjoyed seeing some friends who we’d visited in the past.
  • Churches. Getting to be part of church services makes Christmastime special for everyone.

We’ve also been sharing our eight-bell music on our Facebook page as well. It’s given us the opportunity to show people from many places what’s possible with just eight handbells.

2024 is just around the corner, and we have much more new music to publish. While that’s all being lined up, we wish you a Merry Christmas, with blessings for the New Year.

Christmas Tree 2023

Nov 27

Ding Dong, Merrily on High – for eight handbells

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. Here’s our eight-bell arrangement – enjoy!

Ding dong merrily on high,
In heav’n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
Is riv’n with angel singing.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

E’en so here below, below,
Let steeple bells be swungen,
And “Io, io, io!”
By priest and people sungen.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Pray you, dutifully prime
Your matin chime, ye ringers;
May you beautifully rime
Your evetime song, ye singers.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Purchasing this 8-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four 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.

Find Larry and Carla on Facebook!

Nov 16

Angels We Have Heard on High (GLORIA) (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 2-)

Angels We Have Heard on High is based on the nineteenth-century French song Les Anges dans nos Campagnes and is traditionally sung to the hymn tune GLORIA. The lyric tells us of how the angels came from heaven to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child.

Our three-octave handbell arrangement is a very accessible Level 2-.

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 prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the new-born King.

Les anges dans nos campagnes
ont entonné l’hymne des cieux;
et l’écho de nos montagnes
redit ce chant mélodieux.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Bergers, pour qui cette fête?
Quel est l’objet de tous ces chants?
Quel vainqueur, quelle conquête
mérite ces cris triomphants?

Cherchons tous l’heureux village
que l’a vu naître sous ses toits;
offronslui le tendre hommage
et de nos coeurs et de nos vois!

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.

Nov 13

And now, a second eight-bell version of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”!

We’ve had an eight-bell version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (hymn tune CAROL – the one most frequently heard in the USA) for over ten years. It’s one of my personal favorites; however, it does provide a bit of a challenge to the ringers.

So… we’ve just published a second, somewhat less difficult, “standard” arrangement that you might like to check out. Note: Both versions are on the same Choraegus webpage, so be sure to play both demo videos to determine which score is the one for you!

Purchasing this 8-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four 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.

Nov 08

O Come, O Come Emmanuel for eight handbells – now in E minor!

Our eight-bell arrangements are generally written for the note ranges G5-G6 and F5-F6 and sold as “Dual-Range” score packages. However, these don’t always work smoothly if you want to sing with them, because the melody notes might fall out of a comfortable congregational range.

This is true of our eight-bell O Come, O Come Emmanuel, because both dual-range scores are a bit high for many singers. Fear no more, however! We’ve just added a third transposition to the score packages for both the “standard” and “Surprisingly Easy”™ versions of this Advent song in D5-D6 – this one is in the traditional hymnal key of E minor. We’ve also added practice MP3s for this range if you have a need for them.

Downloading this free arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain copies for your handbell group, and 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.