In this charming sixteenth-century French carol Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella, a young girl is sent to bring a torch/candle to bring light to the stable where the Christ Child sleeps. Un flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle, Un flambeau, courons au berceau! C’est Jésus, bonnes gens du hameau, Le Christ est né, Marie appelle, Ah! Ah! que …
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.
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (ES IST EIN’ ROS’) – Eight handbells
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming dates back to sixteenth-century Germany. Its lyric combines the image of Jesus Christ as the Rose of Sharon and the Root of Jesse, plus the traditional impression of celebrating Christmas in winter. It was translated to English by Theodore Baker in the nineteenth century. Lo, how a Rose e’er …
Deck the Halls – Eight handbells
This boisterous – yes… that seems to be an appropriate choice of words! – arrangement of a 16th century Welsh tune Nos Galan is tremendous fun to play. Fa la la la la la la la! Deck the halls with boughs of holly Fa la la la la, la la la la Tis the season …
On This Day Earth Shall Ring (PERSONENT HODIE) – Eight handbells
On This Day Earth Shall Ring is a melody from fairly far back (1582, to be precise). It’s appropriate for Christmas as well as Easter, and we’ve even been in a church where the pastor made the request “Please play that again next year – it really doesn’t matter when.” On this day earth shall …
Jingle Bells – Eight handbells
James Murray wrote Jingle Bells in 1857. We understand that it actually was a Thanksgiving song for a children’s play at his church… but history has made it into a Christmas song. That probably makes sense since December is snowier than November in most areas (well… if you’re far north enough). Dashing through the snow …
Larry and Carla’s Third “Surprisingly Easy”™ Christmas Collection
Welcome to our third “surprisingly easy” Christmas eight-bell collection! We’ve been having such a wonderful time with our Christmas (and other) music that we thought you should have another set of pieces to play for the holidays! You can play this music with two four-in-hand ringers… or you could have four ringers with two bells …
Oct 18
The Most-Requested Handbell Piece of All?
We’ve finally created an arrangement of Mykola Leontovych’s “Ukrainian Bell Carol”, probably better-known as “Carol of the Bells”. We speculate that it’s the most-requested handbell piece of all time, if only because of the title (and Christmas advertisements!). So if you’re a four-in-hand duet, you can have this in your repertoire and not disappoint those …
Of the Father’s Love Begotten (DIVINUM MYSTERIUM) – Eight handbells
The chant DIVINUM MYSTERIUM dates back to the thirteenth century; we now recognize it by the lyrics: “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”. You can imagine how it would resonate in a stone monastery far off in the hills! Of the Father’s love begotten ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega; He …
Oct 04
But while you look forward to Christmas… another collection!
We’re gearing up for Christmas (because we have to practice our music now to be ready in time…)! It’s an exciting time of year because we love the holidays so much. We really, really love sharing new music with all of you, because it means you can get something to add to your repertoire as …
Sep 14
Christmas is on the Way!
Yes, it’s pretty early to be thinking about Christmas shopping – but not about rehearsing for the holiday season! Most of the handbell directors (and choral directors, too) we know, start choosing their season’s music in August or September so they can focus on the music when everyone’s together. We’ve posted our first new Christmas …
