In February, we made a trip to England to see friends and family. Alan and Gay Cooper were a couple of those friends; in fact, the four of us together comprise the Pizzazz Handbell Quartet. We spent an evening together, and managed to make a rehearsal video of our new sixteen-handbell arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping …
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.
Sleeping Beauty Waltz – Sixteen handbells
Tchaikovsky wrote several ballets. They’ve had a long and wonderful life; in fact, his “Sleeping Beauty” was made into the famous Disney film. One of the well-known pieces from this work is the Sleeping Beauty Waltz. Sixteen Handbells, C5-G6 Score Package: $ US Practice track:: $ US Sixteen Handbells, F5-C7 Score Package: $ US Practice …
Masques – Handbell sextet
Claude Debussy’s Masques is an impressionistic piece about a dancer performing onstage with the “happy” and “sad” Venetian masks. She switches from a joyous, excited dance to a more solemn one, then back, switching faces to signal the mood. It was one of my favorites while I was taking piano lessons as a teenager. This …
Holy is the Lord – Twelve handbells
Franz Schubert wrote lots of music in his short lifespan of just thirty-one years. Holy is the Lord actually is liturgical in nature, but fits well in the classical category with so many of Schubert’s other works. Holy, holy, holy, Holy is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy, Holy is the Lord. Holy is the Father, …
Farandole – Twelve handbells
Georges Bizet wrote the music for Alphonse Daudet’s L’Arlesienne in 1872. Farandole is probably the best-known piece from the suite, and has appeared many, many times since it was written (a friend once commented that she wouldn’t have known about classical music if not for cartoons…). Twelve Handbells, C5-G6 C5-G6 Score Package: $ US C5-G6 …
Barcarolle – Twelve handbells
A barcarolle is a song reminiscent of the Venetian gondoliers. Written in 6/8, the rhythm, depending on your preferred interpretation, is like the rocking of the boat, or of the water around it. This famous barcarolle is the one written by Jacques Offenbach with the title Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour (“beautiful night, night of …
Twelve-Bell Classical
Classical music is interesting and fun on handbells! Sometimes it’s worshipful, such as Holy is the Lord; other times it’s thoughtful and nostalgic, like Barcarolle; and other times it’s just plain wild, such as Farandole. Regardless, it requires careful concentration, and getting to the point when you present it to others is a reward in …
Islamey (Handbells, 5 octaves plus handchimes, 5 octaves, Level 7*)
Mily Balakirev was the senior member of the “Big Five”, a cadre of Russian nationalist composers (in case you’re wondering, the other four were Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Koraskov, Aleksandr Borodin, and Cesar Cui). Balakirev spent some time exploring the Caucasus region in southern Russia, and came across the “islamey”, a cultural dance that featured lots …
Well-Tempered Clavier, Prelude No. 1 – Sixteen handbells
We’ve adapted the first (C major) prelude of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier” to be played with just sixteen handbells. This is a great piece for learning teamwork, and for working on musicality. There are two versions available for the ranges C5-G6 and F5-C7. Sixteen Handbells, C5-G6 Score Package: $ US Practice track:: $ US …
Licensing Agreement – PLEASE READ
Choraegus Handbell Music Licensing Terms General Permissions | 6 bells | 8 bells | 12 bells | 16 bells | bell choir | solo | small ensemble General Permissions with respect to Performances and Recordings Live (including livestreamed) performance is permitted. For our purposes, “live performance” also includes rehearsals. Personal recordings of live performances are …
