There’s a famous story about how a little boy found his way onto the great Ignacy Paderewski’s piano bench before a concert, and, oblivious to the audience, began playing Euphemia Allen’s world-famous 1877 hit Chopsticks. The ticket-holders in the seats were shocked, and angrily wanted the child removed. Paderewski, however, walked up behind the bench …
Tag: classical
Classical pieces are the source material for many incredible handbell pieces. They come with technical and expressive challenges which are augmented by the need to negotiate playing the handbell techniques written to go with content from the original work.
Al die willen te kaap’ren varen – Six handbells and piano
Clearly, there’s a tiny bit of (ancient) gender bias when you announce that all who want to be privateers (Al die willen te kaap’ren varen) must be bearded men. But eating rancid bread doesn’t sound like much fun. Perhaps it’s a somewhat silly song in today’s world, but it’s fun to play! Al die willen …
Six-Bell Music (Accompanied)
From Larry: I had shoulder surgery in May 2020. The result of this was being left-handed for some months. Carla suggested creating some six-bell music to make playing possible for me, with the idea of playing it as a four-in-hand ringer plus a two-in-one/good-hand ringer. There also would be the possibility of someone playing these …
Dona Nobis Pacem – Eight handbells
Dona Nobis Pacem is an ancient three-part canon whose title translates “Lord, give us peace”. This arrangement is provided as a “dual-range”™ PDF. In addition, we’ve also provided transpositions for C5-D6 and D5-E6 to give you more options. Hymn Tune: DONA NOBIS PACEM Standard Version: ”Dual-Range”™ Score Package: $ US Downloading this free arrangement gives …
Jan 02
Rhapsody in Blue (Handbells, 5-8 octaves, plus handchimes, 5 octaves, Level 6+)
Rhapsody in Blue, the iconic work by George Gershwin, entered the public domain as of 2020. It’s our distinct pleasure and privilege to present this new arrangement for handbells! While none of the sections of this arrangement are of an AGEHR Level higher than 5, playing this arrangement in its entirety would be a tremendous …
Rhapsody in Blue (Handbells, 5-8 octaves, plus handchimes, 5 octaves, Level 6+)
Rhapsody in Blue, the iconic work by George Gershwin, entered the public domain as of 2020. So it’s time to arrange it for handbells! (Well, this was done some years back, but that version is long out of print.) While none of the sections of this arrangement are of an AGEHR Level higher than 5, …
The Entertainer, arr. Paul Kingsbury – Bass handbell ensemble
Paul Kingsbury, the longtime Pit Captain of the Bay View Week of Handbells bass team, has arranged The Entertainer by Scott Joplin for the bucket brigade! Subtitled “Six Feet Under”, it offers a fun challenge, especially if you have everything down to G1! Ensemble version (up to eight ringers): $ US Single copy version (one …
Binder Cover pages
If you’ve started gathering lots of our music for six to sixteen bells, you might be keeping it in binders. Here are some free cover pages that you can use to organize your music!. Six-Bell Pieces: $ US “Standard” Eight-Bell Pieces: $ US “Standard” Eight-Bell Christmas Pieces: $ US “Surprisingly Easy” Eight-Bell Pieces: $ US …
I Vow to Thee, My Country (THAXTED) – Eight handbells
Gustav Holst fitted his THAXTED melody to Cecil Spring-Rice’s patriotic/worship poem. This profound hymn is most often sung in England. The melody, also, is combined with the hymn O God, Above All Praising. I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above, entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love: the love …
O God, Above All Praising (THAXTED) – Eight handbells
Gustav Holst fitted his THAXTED melody to Cecil Spring-Rice’s patriotic/worship poem. This profound hymn is most often sung in England. The melody, also, is combined with the hymn O God, Above All Praising. I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above, entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love: the love …
