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. …
Tag: Christmas
Christmas is traditionally celebrated on December 25th as the remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 2).
Liturgically, Christmas is twelve days in length (hence the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas"), ending on Epiphany (also known as Three Kings' Day).
Churches and celebrants who choose to be less precisely liturgical rejoice with Christmas music (and Epiphany music!) all the way through Advent as well. The important thing is to rejoice, of course.
Good Christian Men, Rejoice (IN DULCI JUBILO) – Six handbells and piano
Good Christian Men, Rejoice is a joyous Christmas carol set to the energetic tune IN DULCI JUBILO. This tune is thought to have been written in the fourteenth century by Heinrich Seuse, and its original lyrics are “macaronic” – a combination of Latin and German/English. Good Christian men, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; …
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. …
O Little Town of Bethlehem (FOREST GREEN) – Six handbells and piano
The Christmas carol O Little Town of Bethlehem reflects the quiet joy of the Savior’s birth. This arrangement is of the hymn tune FOREST GREEN, the melody more often used for Phillip Brooks’ lyric. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go …
In the Bleak Midwinter (CRANHAM) – Six handbells and piano
The poem often comes first… Christina Rosetti wrote the words for Scribner’s Monthly in 1872, and then a few years later (1906, to be precise), Gustav Holst set her verse to music. The result: In the Bleak Midwinter, one of the most reflective and well-loved of all Christmas songs. In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind …
Angels We Have Heard On High (GLORIA)- Six handbells and piano
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 piano-accompanied six-handbell arrangement of Angels We Have Heard …
Sep 14
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (CAROL) – for six handbells plus piano
Here’s our six-handbell arrangement of the usual American melody for this carol. We think it shows a bit of Richard Willis’ (the composer’s) musical background – did you know he studied with Felix Mendelssohn? It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps …
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (CAROL) – Six handbells and piano
Edmund Sears wrote the words to It Came Upon the Midnight Clear in 1849, and it’s sung on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean (just with different tunes). This arrangement is to the American melody, CAROL, composed by Richard Storrs Willis. It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, From angels bending …
Sep 07
O Come, O Come Emmanuel (VENI EMMANUEL) – for six accompanied handbells
This Advent hymn originates from as far back as possibly the 12th century. It first appeared in English as translated by John M. Neale in 1851. O come, O come, Emmanuel / And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here / Until the Son of God appear Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel / Shall come …
O Come, O Come Emmanuel (VENI EMMANUEL) – Six handbells and piano
The Advent song O Come, O Come, Emmanuel as we know it today, is adapted from a fifteenth-century French melody, but may originate from as far back as possibly the 12th century. It first appeared in English as translated by John M. Neale in 1851. It’s a prayer by those who hoped that the Christ …
