We’re in Harbor Springs, Michigan for a few days. It turns out that we’ve arrived on the hottest weekend of the whole year – it’s about 90º F. outside, so we’re thankful for air conditioning! We have a day to kick back before rehearsals start tomorrow, and plan to have a nice time, probably in …
Tag: handbells
Handbells were invented in 17-century England as a practice tool for tower bell ringers. They could then rehearse in warmer and cheerier places than belfries - to wit, the local pubs. At some point, someone noticed that it was possible to play tunes (rather than just "changes") on handbells, and so "tune ringing" began. The music available from Choraegus followed the tune ringing tradition as practiced and performed in the modern era,
Aug 10
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Today, we’re releasing our new eight-handbell arrangement of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It’s a great piece with which to start the new season, especially if you’d like to give your full-size bell choir a bit of additional time to prepare their first piece for service. Do take a look, and pick up the …
Aug 04
Wrong Foot Forward
We’ve just released our arrangement of “Wrong Foot Forward”, a new generation Irish jig by Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen of the band Flook. It’s on their album “Haven” – and it’s a lot of fun! You might ask yourself why Brian and Sarah chose this title. Well… there are two kinds of Irish jigs. …
Jul 19
And Here’s Some New Twelve-Bell Music!
We’ve just added seven new twelve-handbell arrangements to our catalog! You can play these as anything between a four-in-hand trio to a sextet of ringers with two bells each. And they’re fun, because they’re a bit challenging (well, okay, some of them are just plain challenging!) – but if you practice, you’ll find they have …
Jun 25
Yay! A new collection!
We’ve been excited that our handbell musician friends have liked our “Surprisingly Easy”™ music, especially the collections. We’ve heard lots of stories of how our arrangements have found a home with duets, trios, and quartets. We’ve also seen some really nice videos too! The news this week is that we’ve added a second “Surprisingly Easy”™ …
Jun 20
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Difficult times provide opportunities for all-too-rare people to show incredible character. I’ve been following the news a bit in the wake of the church shootings in Charleston – a horrific crime and tremendous injustice – and have been amazed at how the folks at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church are willing to offer forgiveness …
Jun 14
New Music – Greensleeves!
Today we’re releasing our eight-bell arrangement of the English tune “Greensleeves” (aka “What Child is This?” for the Christmas-minded)! The video we’ve posted, of course, is a complete play-through of the piece, and has a squirrel as a bonus (just after the one-minute mark, if you’re watching for it). We really think you’ll like this …
Apr 19
Tico Tico!
We were privileged to have our arrangement of Zequinha Abreu’s Tico Tico no fubá selected for Distinctly Bronze West 2015, where nearly 120 ringers participated in its world premiere performance under the baton of Dr William Payn. Because DB is a high-level event, our friend Alex Guebert created some wonderful percussion parts for the occasion, …
Mar 17
Hooray! New twelve-bell music!
We have eight new titles that we’ve added today, and they’re all for twelve bells (C5,D5,E5,F5,G5,A5,B5,C6,D6,E6,F6,G6)! They’ve been arranged in the spirit of our eight-bell music: A fresh look at the genre with some fun twists for ringers to enjoy. Do take a look at them! Annie Laurie Greensleeves All Creatures of Our God and …
Mar 17
Sixteen Bells!
We’ve just released a couple of new small ensemble arrangements. They’re larger-scale than our eight-bell arrangements, requiring twice as many notes. You can play them as four-in-hand quartets, or with eight ringers with two bells apiece, or anything in between. We think they’ll be great fun for whoever plays them, so please take a look!