The text O Worship the King has been matched with a number of melodies. This arrangement uses the LYONS hymn tune.
O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and his love:
Our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.
O tell of His might and sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is his path on the wings of the storm.
Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!
O measureless Might, unchangeable Love,
Whom angels delight to worship above!
Your ransomed creation, with glory ablaze,
In true adoration shall sing to Your praise!
Hymn tune: LYONS
Find metrically-matched hymn texts
| Twelve Handbells, C5-G6 |  |
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| C5-G6 Score Package: | $10.00 US | |
| C5-G6 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 | |
| Twelve Handbells, Bb4-F6 |  |
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| Bb4-F6 Score Package: | $10.00 US | |
| Bb4-F6 Practice track: | $2.00 US | |
Other arrangements available for eight handbells (HANOVER) and eight handbells (LYONS).
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.
2 comments
I am interested in the two of your 12 bell arrangements.
Oh Worship the King and Ode to Joy.
Both are keyed in C5-G6 or F5-C7.
I’d like the congregation to sing with the bells. The hymnal Key for both is G Maj. Is the F5-C7 in the key of F? If so, I can make that work.
The music is $10 per copy right? I would need to copies. They will play without a conductor.
The players are intermediate level. 3 bells per person for a four person group should work. Is the music designed to be played by 4 ringers?
Author
Hi Dale,
The C5-G6 versions of our twelve-bell arrangements are in C major. In case you didn’t know, that’s the traditional keying from long ago – many (twelve-bell) teams in the UK have just the white key bells, possibly with an added F# or Bb. Our F5-C7 versions are in F major, and are more comfortable for those who want their ringers to play the traditional Allured assignments (FG5, AB5, etc.).
In the case of O Worship the King and Ode to Joy, the F major key signature is a whole step below the traditional hymnal key for each, so having the congregation sing at the same time should work. Because their are short transitions between verses, you may have to figure out how to let the congregation know when it’s time to start singing the next verse.
When you have a moment, please read our Licensing Agreement. It specifies how many copies of each type of score you’re allowed to maintain – for twelve-bell scores, you can print up to six copies (that’s for a sextet, each member having two bells). So it looks like your group would need to purchase only one copy of the score.
The music is written for twelve bells, but no attempt has been made to specify how the notes are allocated between ringers. So how you assign the bells is up to you; three bells per player should work well.
If you have any other questions, please let us know.
We hope you’ll enjoy playing our music!
Happy Ringing,
Larry & Carla