Eight-Bell Collaborations
List of Collaborations with Eight Handbells
Here’s a quick compilation of our scores for eight handbells in collaboration with other instruments. Each title is a link to the corresponding webpage. TITLE HYMN TUNE OTHER INSTRUMENTS All Glory, Laud and Honor ST. THEODULPH Piano All Things Bright and Beautiful ROYAL OAK Piano Be Thou My Vision SLANE Piano Blessed Assurance ASSURANCE Piano; …
All Glory, Laud and Honor (ST. THEODULPH) – eight handbells and piano
One of the great Palm Sunday hymns is All Glory, Laud, and Honor. The text was written by St. Theodulph in the seventh century (!), and Melchior Teschner composed the tune we know about a millennium later. All glory, laud, and honor to You, Redeemer, King, To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas …
All Things Bright and Beautiful (ROYAL OAK) (eight handbells and piano)
Cecil Frances Alexander wrote All Things Bright and Beautiful in 1849. The joyous text and its happy melody are perfectly matched! All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Each little flow’r that opens, each little bird that sings, He made their …
Be Thou My Vision (SLANE)
Be Thou My Vision, usually sung to the hymn tune SLANE, is a heartfelt and eloquent prayer by a believer who wants to follow the path God offers. Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best Thought, by day or by …
Blessed Assurance (ASSURANCE) (eight handbells and piano)
Blessed Assurance is one of Fanny Crosby’s all-time classic hymns. It speaks of faith, dependence, and triumph through having an absolute reliance on God and His power. Our arrangement is for two octaves, and will be a welcome addition to your ensemble’s repertoire. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! …
Come Down, O Love Divine (DOWN AMPNEY)(eight handbells and piano)
Come Down, O Love Divine is one of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ compositions. The lyric speaks of the believer’s need to rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength through all of life. Come down, O Love divine; seek out this soul of mine, and visit it with Your own ardor glowing. O Comforter, draw …
Come, Christians, Join to Sing – Eight Handbells and Organ/Piano
Come, Christians, Join to Sing reminds us of our responsibilities before God to sing – well, ring – before Him! We think this arrangement will also make you dance! Come, Christians, join to sing / Alleluia! Amen! Loud praise to Christ our King / Alleluia! Amen! Let all, with heart and voice / Before His …
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (ST. GEORGE’S WINDSOR) (eight handbells and piano)
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come is most often sung in the United States at Thanksgiving. It’s a harvest-is-over song that uses bringing the crop from the fields as an illustration of God bringing His saints home after they’ve completed their earthly responsibilities. This is our arrangement of this hymn for eight handbells and piano. Come, …
Count Your Blessings (BLESSINGS) (eight handbells and piano)
This joyous hymn about all the wonderful things God does for us has now been arranged for eight handbells and piano! It’s a relatively easy piece (for the bells, definitely, and not too difficult for the pianist) that’s fun to play. When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all …
Ding Dong, Merrily on High – Eight Handbells with Organ or Piano, plus optional flute
The sixteenth-century English tune Ding Dong, Merrily on High is quite popular at Christmas. It reflects the joy of the season, and invites us to share in the joy of heaven at the birth of the Son of God. Here we have a team effort between eight handbells and a keyboard instrument (piano or organ). …
For All the Saints (SINE NOMINE) (eight handbells and piano)
Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote the music for this hymn in 1906. Strangely (or not!), the hymn tune is SINE NOMINE, which is Latin for “without name”. Whether or not it actually has a name, therefore, is for the philosophers to sort out… but the hymn is probably most often used on All Saints’ Day when …
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (GOD REST YE MERRY)(eight handbells and piano)
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is an 18th century English carol that’s been a source of Christmas celebration for generations. Here’s our arrangement for eight handbells and piano – with a delightful and exciting metric twist! God rest you merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay; remember Christ, our Savior was born on Christmas Day to …
Hills of the North, Rejoice (LITTLE CORNARD) (eight handbells and piano)
Hills of the North, Rejoice is usually sung in the United Kingdom as an Advent song. Here’s our arrangement for eight handbells and piano. Hills of the North, rejoice, river and mountain-spring, hark to the advent voice; valley and lowland, sing. Christ comes in righteousness and love, He brings salvation from above. Isles of the …
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (WALTHAM) – eight handbells with piano
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day is a pre-Civil War song that sets a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to the tune WALTHAM by John Baptiste Calkin. The theme is “peace on earth, good will to men”, and the words reflect on how hopelessness will give way to glory. The score for our piano-accompanied …
In the Bleak Midwinter – Eight Handbells and Organ
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. We have not only the eight-bell …
In the Sweet By and By (SWEET BY AND BY) (eight handbells and piano)
The peaceful hymn In the Sweet By and By has been a comfort to Christians for over 150 years. It speaks of the eternal destination of believers, and how they will all reunite in a place beyond all the difficulties they experienced in this life. There’s a land that is fairer than day, And by …
Jingle Bells – for eight handbells plus piano
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 …
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (ODE TO JOY) – Eight Handbells and Organ
Beethoven wrote nine symphonies. He was an amazing composer, creating wonderful music during his later years even though he had gone deaf. One of his best known symphonic melodies in the choral world is the “Ode to Joy” from his final symphony, the tune for the hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee. Joyful, joyful, we …
Lift High the Cross (CRUCIFER) (eight handbells and piano)
Lift High the Cross undoubtedly is most frequently sung in churches at Easter (and maybe on through Pentecost), but the message of salvation through Christ rings true the whole year round. This arrangement will be a welcome addition to your repertoire. Refrain: Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world …
Love Came Down at Christmas (GARTAN) (eight handbells and piano)
Christina Rossetti wrote the poem Love Came Down at Christmas in 1885. It traditionally has been set to the Irish traditional tune GARTAN. This arrangement for eight handbells and piano expresses her words quietly and peacefully. Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine, Love was born at Christmas, Star and Angels gave …
O Zion, Haste (TIDINGS) (eight handbells and piano)
The Great Commission has been given to the Church (figuratively, “Zion”). That responsibility is to share the love of Christ with the world so that all may be saved. In O Zion, Haste, the tune TIDINGS evokes images of this responsibility as spiritual marching orders. O Zion, haste, your mission high fulfilling, to tell to …
On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry (PUER NOBIS)
On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry is sung to the 15th century hymn tune PUER NOBIS. It’s traditionally sung for Advent, but can be played for Easter as That Easter Day with Joy was Bright. Our piano-accompanied eight-handbell arrangement will work well with your small handbell ensemble (duet, trio, or quartet)! On Jordan’s bank the …
Praise God, Ye Servants of the Lord (ANDRE) (eight handbells and piano)
William Bradbury wrote hymn tunes that are still well-known more than a century later. He Leadeth Me and Sweet Hour of Prayer are two that still appear in hymnals of today. His lively tune ANDRE, matched with Praise God, Ye Servants of the Lord, may be less familiar, but it still suggests praise and rejoicing …
Shall We Gather at the River?
Shall We Gather at the River, traditionally, is regarded as a baptism hymn, but it also reminds us of the wonder and glory of that day when we shall be in heaven with God. Shall we gather at the river, Where bright angel feet have trod; With its crystal tide forever Flowing by the throne …
Silver and Bronze – Ensemble Piece for Flute and Eight Handbells
In May 2015, we (Larry and Carla) were in a concert with Philadelphia Bronze. While we were deciding on repertoire for the program, the idea of a collaboration between Martha (on flute) and us (on eight bells) arose. Here’s the result! If you need an alternate title for use in your worship service, we’d suggest …
Skye Boat Song
The soothing, plaintive Skye Boat Song is about Prince Charles’ escape to the Isle of Skye after his defeat in the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Imagine a defeated leader departing the battleground, seeking safety by crossing the water, and hoping to fight another day. In church services, this melody is matched with the hymn …
While on the Sea (UKRAINE) – eight handbells and piano
We go through our life as if navigating a great ocean in a small boat. The waves are large, and threaten us continually. The water is unfathomably deep, and we fear what might happen if we were dumped into it. And so we pray to God for protection and safety, for He is our hope. …
