We’ve had an eight-bell arrangement of Good King Wenceslas for eight handbells for quite a while, and decided it was time to create a new one that was a bit easier to play. They’re both on the same web page so that you can compare them as you make a decision about which one you want to play (well, you can always return to get the other one at any time!).
Oct 06
Server maintenance ahead…
We’ve been informed by our hosting service that they’re moving the Choraegus site onto a brand new server, so if you try to visit us between 01:00 and 07:00 EST tomorrow (Saturday, October 7th), you might not be able to get there for a bit. Don’t worry, we’ll be back, and working even better than before!
Oct 05
Angels, from the Realms of Glory (REGENT SQUARE) (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 2)
Angels came from heaven to celebrate the birth of Christ. It’s amazing to compare how it must have been in God’s glorious presence with the humble stable of Bethlehem. Yet they came, and they marveled!
This new arrangement for three octaves of handbells is perfect if you have a relatively novice group, or if you decide to put something together quickly.
Angels from the realms of glory / Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story / Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Shepherds, in the fields abiding / Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing / Yonder shines the infant Light;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Sages, leave your contemplations / Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great desire of nations / Ye have seen His natal star;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Saints before the altar bending / Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending / In His temple shall appear:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
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.
Oct 04
Where’s the CART?
We made a change to the Choraegus site a few days ago. Before this, your shopping cart was displayed at the bottom of the product page you were viewing and also in the right sidebar. The (minor) disadvantage was that sometimes it would end up way, way down the page, and so you’d have to scroll for quite a while to get to it.
We’ve changed things so the link to the cart is on the main menubar (on a phone it’s at the bottom of the main site menu). Just click on CART, and the items you’ve selected should be displayed!
It’s a new thing, however, so if you encounter any problems, let us know!
Sep 30
Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow – Twelve-Handbell Version
Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow is an African-American Christmas spiritual. It’s about the message that drew the shepherds (well, at least one shepherd) to follow the Christmas star to find the Christ Child.
The spiritual is a “call and response” song – one way it’s been done in many Black churches is to have the soloist sing the “call” lines, and to have the choir reply with the “response” line “rise up, shepherd, and follow”.
You’ll enjoy playing our new arrangment of Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow for twelve handbells!
| CALL | RESPONSE |
| Oh, there’s a star in the East on Christmas morn It will lead you to the place where the saviour’s born Leave your ewes and leave your rams Leave your sheep and leave your lambs Follow, follow Follow the star to Bethlehem Come on now |
Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up shepherd, and follow Rise up shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Follow |
| Now, if you take good heed to the angel’s word You’ll forget your flock, forget your herd You gotta leave your ewes and leave the lambs You gotta leave your sheep and leave your rams Follow, follow Follow the star to Bethlehem |
Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow |
| In a cradle of straw is a babe asleep Born that man no more will weep Leave your burdens, lay them down For you that child will wear a crown Follow, you got to follow Follow the star to Bethlehem |
Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow Rise up, shepherd, and follow |
| There’s a light in the sky shining crystal clear There’s a megaphone singing to my fear Rise and go, you’re being released Born this morning is the prince of peace You got to follow Rise and go, you’re being released (follow) Rise up, rise up, rise up (rise up) |
Rise up, rise up, Move on, move on Rise up, ’cause he’s born, he’s born Rise up, rise up, Move on, move on Rise up, I rise up, I rise up, rise up, Follow Rise up, rise up, rise up, You got to follow You got to follow, You gotta follow, yeah You got to follow, I follow, follow, follow |
| Twelve Handbells, C5-G6 |  |
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| C5-G6 Score Package: | $10.00 US | |
| C5-G6 Practice track:: | $2.00 US | |
| Twelve Handbells, Bb4-F6 |  |
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| Bb4-F6 Score Package: | $10.00 US | |
| Bb4-F6 Practice track:: | $2.00 US | |
| Twelve Handbells, F5-C7 |  |
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| F5-C7 Score Package: | $10.00 US | |
| F5-C7 Practice track:: | $2.00 US | |
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 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.
Sep 26
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (ES IST EIN ROS’) (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 1)
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. Our arrangement for three octaves is Level 1, and it sounds especially nice on handchimes in our demo video.
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Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming From tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming As men of old have sung. It came, a flower bright, Amid the cold of winter When half-gone was the night. Isaiah ’twas foretold it, This Flower, whose fragrance tender Theodore Baker, 1894 |
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, Aus einer Wurzel zart, Wie uns die Alten sungen, Von Jesse kam die Art, Und hat ein Blümlein bracht Mitten im kalten Winter Wohl zu der halben Nacht. Das Reislein, das ich meine, So singen wir all’ “Amen!” |
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.
Sep 22
Smiles (Handbells, 5-8 octaves, plus handchimes, 2 octaves, Level 5)(Bay View Week of Handbells 2023)
The song Smiles has a long and wonderful history. T. Will Callahan wrote the lyrics in a Bay View cottage near the end of World War I, and it went on to be a tremendous hit, selling about 5,000,000 print copies (before the existence of public radio, or television, or the internet).
The connection to Bay View, Michigan led to its inclusion in the repertoire for the 2023 Bay View Week of Handbells. Fred Gramann requested the addition of “more” to our 4-5 octave arrangement, and so the second verse of that score became a lively, wild, rollicking Charleston.
If you’ve thought about playing our “basic” version of Smiles but would like
“more”, here it is!
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.
Sep 11
Four Twelve-Bell Hanukkah Songs!
A friend asked if we could come up with some twelve-bell music for Hanukkah. We’re happy to say that we found four songs that worked nicely!
Hanukkah, O Hanukkah – a lively, happy song about the Jewish Festival of Lights, the annual holiday commemorating the miracle of God’s provision and sustenance. The symbol for this remembrance is the menorah.
Ma’oz Tzur – God’s preservation of Israel is remembered in this ancient hymn.
The Dreidel Song – A dreidel is a small spinner/top that’s used for various games, especially at Hanukkah. I remember learning this one in elementary school when we learned about other cultures.
Sevivon Sov Sov Sov – This is known as “the other dreidel song”; its title translates “dreidel spin, spin, spin”. It has two sets of words, one when sung in Jerusalem (“here”) and one when sung everywhere else (“there”) – both remember the miracle that Hanukkah is all about.
For each of these 12-bell arrangements, purchase gives you permission to print and maintain up to six copies for your handbell group – 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.
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Aug 14
Escape from No-Note Island, for five to seven octaves of handbells, Level 5
Here’s the story behind this new original handbell composition, Escape from No-Note Island:
Handbell compositions are usually written for note ranges that constitute complete octaves of bells. Having this agreed-on convention between manufacturers, composers, publishers, and performers makes it easier to maintain consistency within the ringing art. For instance, “five octaves” refers to the range C3-C8. Because of this, we start with a common knowledge about the music to be written and the bells needed to play it.
Although this is an excellent way of doing things, the resulting music tends to prefer the middle of its designated note range. This often results in the lowest and largest bells seeing less action. Bass ringers can often accept this situation because it means they can get a short break between spates of heavy lifting.
It’s a different matter for the upper treble ringers. Treble ringers generally prefer being active and occupied, and so there are some who have an aversion to being sent to the far right end of the table, which to them is a desolate place known as “Position 11”. This aversion has led some to label Position 11 with epithets such as “No-Note Island”.
This piece is dedicated to those of you who feel marooned and forsaken when you’re sent to the topmost position. I hope you’ll feel better about being there when you play this work.
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.
Aug 07
The Twelve Days of Christmas – for handbell trio!
The Twelve Days of Christmas has been a holiday favorite for a long time, so much so that there’s an annual update about the cost of a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens… For the dedicated true love person, it details a serious financial enterprise!
Our arrangement for handbell trio, commissioned by St. Andrew United Methodist Church (Highlands Ranch, Colorado), is fun to play, has some little bits of humor/strangeness, and will make you and your audience smile!
Audio:
Premiere performance:
Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain the number of copies needed your handbell ensemble (plus the accompaniment score) – 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.
