Many of you know that Carla and I (Larry) were in a long-distance relationship between California and England for several years. After getting engaged in 2011, we worked on getting her a fiancée visa; it was approved in time for August 2012 to be the Month of One-Way Plane Tickets. I flew from California to …
Tag: hymn
Hymns are the musical substance of the traditional church. They typically have high doctrinal content with classical/choral music. Many of the older (up to the 20th century) were written with four choral parts for choirs to sing.
Modern hymnals go beyond this definition, however, because continuing history provides more and more choices of music for worship. New hymnals include more international and contemporary songs as well. This is in keeping with the definition "hymn: a religious song or poem of praise to God".
May 15
Here’s the “Surprisingly Easy”™ eight-bell “O Worship the King” (LYONS)!
We started writing “Surprisingly Easy”™ variants of many of our eight-bell arrangements years and years ago. That was to provide a faster-to-worship learning time, especially for duets, trios, and quartets who are newer to four-in-hand and ensemble ringing. If you aren’t already familiar with our easier eight-bell scores, they’re generally equivalent to a Level 2 …
May 12
ENGELBERG (Handbells, 2 octaves, Level 2+)
We’ve published a new arrangement of the hymn tune ENGELBERG today. In case you’re happier with hymn titles, ENGELBERG has been paired with several texts: All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine When in Our Music God is Glorified We Know that Christ is Raised This arrangement is for two octaves of handbells, …
Mar 17
Bass Handbell Solo: “Danny Boy”/”Londonderry Air”
I arranged “Danny Boy”/”Londonderry Air” for bass handbells over twenty years ago, and after a run at a Silicon Valley retirement facility, finally dared to play in public at the 2004 Area 12 conferences. Unfortunately, technology of the time didn’t give us an easy way to make even a scruffy video of what happened then. …
Mar 01
Update to “Dona Nobis Pacem”!
We’ve learned that there are some folks might not be able to play our G5- and F5-based scores of Dona Nobis Pacem. For instance, there are sets in England that have white keys C5-G6, and maybe F#s and Bbs, and therefore won’t have all the needed notes. To help work with this, we’ve added C5- …
Feb 28
To God Be the Glory (TO GOD BE THE GLORY) (Handbells, 3 or 5 octaves, Level 4)
Fanny Crosby and William Doane were a “dynamic duo” of hymn-writing in the decades on either side of the year 1900. She wrote the words, and he composed the music. One of their best-known hymns is To God Be the Glory Personal note: This was the favorite hymn of Larry’s great-aunt Pat. Our new arrangement …
Oct 22
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN) – Twelve Handbells
The title from Joachim Neander’s German 1680 chorale, reads even more impressively in German: Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” has been a church favorite for many years – after all, our very lives depend on God and His infinite power. Our new arrangement for twelve handbells …
Sep 26
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (ES IST EIN ROS’) (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 1)
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming dates back to sixteenth-century Germany. Its lyric combines the image of Jesus Christ as the Rose of Sharon and the Root of Jesse, plus the traditional impression of celebrating Christmas in winter. It was translated to English by Theodore Baker in the nineteenth century. Our arrangement for three octaves …
Jul 24
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (Handbells, 3 octaves, Level 2)
Every Christmas bring the wonder of the Christ Child in the manger – it’s the mystery of God coming to live among us on earth. Here’s our new arrangement of Infant Holy, Infant Lowly for three octaves of handbells. It also works really well on chimes! Infant holy, infant lowly, for his bed a cattle …
Jun 23
The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended (ST. CLEMENT) (Handbells, two octaves, Level 2+)
The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended is about eternity in the “always” rather than the “forever” sense; the lyrics are about perseverance without letup as the Church continues her work night and day. Our arrangement for two octaves of handbells is Level 2+, and suitable for any service. The day Thou gavest, Lord, is …