WorshipArts Jul Aug Sep 2023

B E L L S

Scherzo

choir. Even though the publisher says handchimes are optional – I believe they are required for this arrangement to really shine. If you are familiar with this duet from Vivaldi’s Gloria , you will quickly recognize that the handchimes replicate the soprano duet this arrangement is based upon. It will be critical to keep the handbells as accompaniment when the handchimes are playing. This is accomplished by thumb damping in the treble clef, but still requires a light technique so the bells don’t sound like little thuds. The bass clef bells can mallet or pluck. You may want to experiment with various stopped techniques to find the right combination depending on the octave of the bell and the ringer; for example, the G3 may need to pluck, while G4 mallets, and G5 and G6 thumb damp. Clean dampening and a steady subdivision will make this brilliant arrangement a fantastic addition to your bell choir’s repertoire.

Matthew Compton, Evergreen Music, EGM130, 3-5 octave handbells, L2, 2023. Reviewed by Melissa Emerson. Fun – fun with mallets, fun with ringing, and sort of sounds like Christmas. This original composition was written for a youth bell festival and has youthful energy and quirkiness ‘written’ all over it. There are mallets; there are marts; there’s some shaking and some LVs. Not every part will stay busy the whole time, but I think young ringers might be intrigued by the melody enough that they won’t mind not ringing some here and there. This music is set in C minor and while it can be rung with 3 octaves, this is really suited for a 5-octave choir as the C3 is malleted often and adds sort of a bass drum feel to the piece. There are several sections of repeatedly malleted notes – a good