As spring rapidly approaches, we’re back to recording more eight-bell music. Our latest release is Faith of Our Fathers, one of the famous hymns of the nineteenth century. This arrangement is easy enough that you should be able to prepare it for Father’s Day!
Tag: 8-bell
Starting in 2012, we (Larry and Carla Sue) developed a large repertoire of music for eight handbells which we perform as four-in-hand duets. These pieces ranged from fairly simple to maniacally difficult, and eventually led to the creation of their “Surprisingly Easy”™ eight-bell arrangements so that there would be more options for the ringing world at large.
As eight-bell repertoire works well with a two-in-hand quartet (two bells each) or a four-in-hand duo, or with a trio where the bells are divided 4-2-2 or 3-3-2. We've even seen one instance of playing eight-bell music with eight ringers with one bell apiece, a la Sacred Harp.
Faith of Our Fathers (ST. CATHERINE) – Eight handbells
The Christian faith is all about continuity. God has made the Church so that it grows and lives by believers telling other people about His infinite grace and the salvation they can have. Many of us can trace a bit of our “spiritual lineage” through those who made it possible for us to come to …
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN) – Eight handbells
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 years – after all, our very lives depend on God and His infinite power. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, …
Jan 25
Sing Praise to God (Who Reigns Above)
Sometimes we end up writing a “standard” and a “surprisingly easy”™ version of a particular piece. The reason for this, of course, is that sometimes the standard versions can be quite challenging. So we don’t want to prevent anyone from being able to enjoy playing a tune because they’re still on the learning curve. In …
Jan 20
One Day!
Well, that’s not a really-I’ll-eventually-get-to-it promise… it’s the title of our just-released eight-handbell hymn arrangement. One Day is one of the hymns that tells of what Jesus Christ did with no uncertainty – He’s our Example, and Redeemer, and Hope. Our arrangement shares the excitement of knowing that! We hope you’ll take a look, and …
One Day (ONE DAY) – Eight handbells
I call One Day an “eternity hymn”. It looks across all of time and proclaims the Lord’s great works, and with each chorus brings it all back to how it matters to my hope in Christ. One day when Heaven Was filled with His praises / One day when sin was As black as could …
Jan 03
O Worship the King!
There are many hymns whose words are sung with multiple hymn tunes (just take a look at your metrical index!). Some time ago we put out an arrangement of the LYONS hymn tune which is commonly used for O Worship the King… and today we’ve added an eight-bell score for HANOVER, one of the other …
O Worship the King (HANOVER) – Eight handbells
There are a number of times a text is fitted to more than one hymn tune. This arrangement is the alternate tune for LYONS … or if you like, the tune for which LYONS is an alternate. O worship the King all-glorious above, O gratefully sing His power and his love: Our shield and defender, …
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (ST. DENIO) – Eight handbells
Hymns have long been a means of trying to understand the unfathomable nature and Person of God. Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise, to the tune ST. DENIO, speaks of how God is beyond our comprehension who reaches to us from His throne. Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most …
Dec 12
Deal with the Christmas Rush
It’s getting into the middle of December, and that means the Christmas Rush (whatever that happens to mean to you) is in full surge. For most of us musicians, it probably means surviving the last couple of rehearsals and performances. But… sometimes that very, very late request comes in. Maybe someone’s had their musicians cancel …
