Today’s arrangement is our Holy Manna for eight handbells. It was one of the first four-in-hand duets written when we (finally!) were together in California, and it still is one of our favorite concert pieces. A story: Carla moved to the US in 2012, and just after we arrived home in California, the organist at …
Tag: handbells
Handbells were invented in 17-century England as a practice tool for tower bell ringers. They could then rehearse in warmer and cheerier places than belfries - to wit, the local pubs. At some point, someone noticed that it was possible to play tunes (rather than just "changes") on handbells, and so "tune ringing" began. The music available from Choraegus followed the tune ringing tradition as practiced and performed in the modern era,
Jan 06
Epiphany!
For epiphany, here’s one of our newest eight-bell arrangements. It’s of the Swiss Christmas carol Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen (“For unto us a time is come”). It’s a lively song of rejoicing at the Christ Child’s birth. Purchasing this 8-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies …
Jan 05
Merry Twelfth Day of Christmas!
For the twelfth day of Christmas, I’ve decided to take a slightly different tack in this post. In 1892, Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write a series of twelve pieces for a music magazine. The collection is called The Seasons. Sometime ago, I arranged The Seasons for two octaves of handbells. When Carla and I recorded …
Jan 04
Merry Eleventh Day of Christmas!
We’ve made it through most of the twelve days Christmas, and are approaching Epiphany. As a prelude to that, here’s our twelve-bell arrangement of What Child is This?. Enjoy! Purchasing this 12-bell arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay …
Jan 03
Merry Tenth Day of Christmas!
Today is the tenth day of Christmas (as opposed to the commercial interests who would have us just get it over with and move on to Mother’s Day… possibly with a short stop at Valentine’s Day as we head there!). We’ve had loads of fun with our eight-bells-plus-piano-plus-optional-flute arrangement of Hark! the Herald Angels Sing. …
Jan 02
Merry Ninth Day of Christmas!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many handbell groups closed down for a couple of years, because it was considered risky to gather. So they played it safe, hoping to weather the storm and bring everyone back together after the disease was better understood (and yes, vaccinations had been developed). Kalamazoo Ringers was no exception, and like …
Jan 01
Merry Eighth Day of Christmas!
The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came is a mysterious tune that’s just on the border between Advent and Christmas. We first arranged it for eight bells, and then during my recovery from shoulder surgery for six bells and piano. Here’s the video or the six-bell version! Purchasing this 6-bell arrangement gives you permission to print …
Dec 31
Merry Seventh Day of Christmas!
We’ve had a great time writing music for small handbell ensembles, and were so very pleased to note that a number of ringers were using our six-, eight-, and twelve-bell scores and sharing their videos with us (well, and the world!). We’ve been writing music for sixteen handbells as well; these arrangements are perfect for …
Dec 30
Merry Sixth Day of Christmas!
We went to a Holland Symphony Christmas concert a few years back, and enjoyed it very much. On the program was the Swedish carol Jul, Jul Strålande Jul (Christmas, Glorious Christmas), performed by soprano voice and orchestra. It was truly charming, and thoughtful, and just plain wintry, and so we worked out how to play …
Dec 29
Merry Fifth Day of Christmas!
When we figured out how to make demo videos of pieces using more than eight bells, it made sense to create sixteen-bell arrangements. That way, four-in-hand quartets were available; they also were a nice bridge between twelve-bell and two-octave handbell music. On the fifth day of Christmas, here’s our sixteen-bell arrangement of Wexford Carol. Good …
