This collection contains 10 familiar Christmas carols arranged for a one octave, 13-note chromatic scale Handbell choir with Piano accompaniment. For each song, the Piano provides an introduction then the Handbells play the melody and occasional 2-part harmony. Each song also includes an optional repeat and second ending in case a longer song is desired.

For each song, there is a combined score with both instruments (Handbells and Piano) on a grand staff plus two separate scores for the Handbells (one in standard format with black and white notes and the second with color-coded notes). A color-coded note chart is also provided for each song which shows the Handbell notes used as well as the number of times each note is played. The note distribution is helpful when assigning notes to ringers. You may want to assign fewer notes to beginners or evenly distribute the bells between all ringers.

The color-coded scores are enlarged so the colors are easier to distinguish and all sharps and flats are displayed (shown in the key of C) as reminders for beginning ringers. Also, only filled noteheads (quarter and eighth notes) are used so the notes are full color and easier to see (this does not indicate the bells need to be silenced immediately before the next beat).

As noted above, one of the Handbell scores for each song is color-coded for easier note reading for beginning ringers. These separate color-coded scores use the ?Chroma-Notes? Colored Music System.? If you have a set of Handbells with a different color scheme, ?Chroma-Notes Stick Ons? can be purchased and applied so the Handbells match this color scheme.

The number of ringers needed will vary depending on the skill level of the participants. For more advanced players, each person could be assigned two or three notes. For beginners, it is best to assign one or two notes to each person. Note assignment suggestions are included for each song and range from 4 to 8 ringers.

These familiar Christmas carols are perfect for small groups and especially beginning ringers. Most songs can be performed with as few as 5 people (4 ringers and 1 piano player). The Piano accompaniment is written for an intermediate player.

Permission is granted to make up to 10 copies of each score. For more than 10 copies, please purchase additional sets.

Each song is also available separately with accompanying preview pages and audio samples. For each song, a piano accompaniment and/or rehearsal track (MP3 format) is available as a separate purchase.

Song titles included in this collection:
Angels We Have Heard on High
Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
Ding Dong! Merrily on High
Joy to the World
O Come, All Ye Faithful
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O Thou Joyful Day
Simple Gifts
The First Noel
We Three Kings

Op. 85/12 Horn: Abendlied (Evening Song) by Robert Schumann Op. 85, No. 12. Duration: 3:10 Score: 3 pg. 29 ms. common time. Lento ? quarter note = 40. Piano part: 2 pg. solo part 1 pg.
Schumann Background
Robert Schumann (1810 ?1856) was a German composer and, moreover,a music critic. Music historians, as well as critics, generally agree that heis one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. In the first place, Schumann was studying tobecome a lawyer. He quit law school, however, to pursue a career as a concert pianist. Be that as it may, he injured his hand andruined any chance of success as a virtuoso pianist. As a result, Schumann turnedhis musical attention to composing.

The Beginning of the End
In1848, Robert Schumann was in fact only 38 years old. Nevertheless, he wasalready weakening as a composer and conductor. His productivity, on thewhole, was slowing down. Furthermore, his conducting job at one of the world?soldest orchestras had come under great criticism.

Last Period
Schumannbecame inspired by the death of his friend Felix Mendelssohn theyear before. Similarly, he was stimulated by the Revolutions of 1848, andconsequently composed some of his most substantive works. It wasduring this last period of inspiration that he wrote his Scenes from Faust. Furthermore, he finishedthe Requiem for Mignon and the Introduction and Allegro for Piano & Orchestra. Next, he composed Scenes from the Forest forpiano. Finally, he composed the Twelve Four-hand Piano Worksfor Small & Large Children, Op. 85. This collection turns out, insummary, to be Schumann?s last great collection of piano literature.

Abendlied
Thefinal movement (Op.85/12) of this great collection on balance is entitled Abendlied or Evening Song. It is inessence a very effective recital encore especially following a more aggressiveor fast-paced piece. This is, in either case, a chance to develop long rubatophrases and demonstrate your musical sensitivity. This music, for the mostpart, sets a quiet, mysterious, and somewhat melancholy mood reminiscent ofevening-time just after sunset when the shadows become long and the sky beginsto darken.

The Water Is Wide (O Waly Waly)
Duration: 5:24
Score: 10 pg. 121 ms., MM quarter = 94, final verse MM quarter = 80, common time
Solo part: 3 pg.
Piano part: 4 pg.

A thought-provoking arrangement of a Traditional Scottish Folksong. Probably most widely known as "The Water Is Wide,"
it is also well known by it's more ancient title: "O Waly Waly." The tune is also known as " When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and "The Gift of Love."
This is an original arrangement from the ground up.

Programming:
If you are looking for something with new contrapuntal and harmonic adventures for a Lenten prelude or a meditation during Holy Week, this will fit the bill.
It could also work well in a recital setting because it fits well on the instrument, and provides a chance to show off long, sensitive musical phrases.
Some of the figures in the descant verse are a wee-bit more advanced so, this is for intermediate players rather than beginners.

Keep in mind these performance ideas:
1. It's a simple tune that needs to unfold in the due course of time, so don't rush it. A slight ritardando at the end of each verse may help if you want to further delineate the verses.
2. There is a lot of interesting counterpoint here, so be prepared to give-and-take on the dynamics more than what I have indicated.
3. The final verse is much slower and more mysterious, and the dynamics are crucial - the quieter the better. Piano - the last chord: take your time on the roll, make it nice and slow.

Synopsis of the arrangement:
verse 1: Simple quiet duet with the melody in the solo instrument.
verse 2: Melody in the solo instrument accompanied by a 2-part canon in the piano.
verse 3: Melody in the piano in 4-part harmony.
verse 4: 3-part canon on the melody (with a free accompaniment voice).
verse 5: 2-part canon with a free accompaniment in the solo part
verse 6: Melody in octaves with free bass in octaves; descant in the solo part - loudest verse.
verse 7: Very quiet ending verse - Modulates down a fourth, melody in the solo part accompanied by simple quartal/quintal
piano clusters over bass chords that suggest submerged church bells.

For better insight into the performance of this music: express the emotion indicated by the lyrics:

The Water Is Wide:
The water is wide, I cannot get over
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
A ship there is and she sails the sea
She's loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I sink or swim
I leaned my back against an oak
Thinking it was a trusty tree
But first it bent and then it broke
So did my love prove false to me
I reached my finger into some soft bush
Thinking the fairest flower to find
I pricked my finger to the bone
And left the fairest flower behind
Oh love be handsome and love be kind
Gay as a jewel when first it is new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like the morning dew
Must I go bound while you go free
Must I love a man who doesn't love me
Must I be born with so little art
As to love a man who'll break my heart
When cockle shells turn silver bells
Then will my love come back to me
When roses bloom in winter's gloom
Then will my love return to me

The lyrics for "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny" from Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany (1724).

O Waly, waly (a lament ? "woe is me") up the bank,
And waly, waly doun the brae (hill),
And waly, waly, yon burn-side (riverside),
Where I and my love wont to gae.
I lean'd my back into an aik (oak),
I thocht it was a trusty tree;
But first it bow'd, and syne (soon) it brak (broke),
Sae my true love did lightly me.

O waly, waly, but love be bonnie (beautiful),
A little time while it is new,
But when 'tis auld (old), it waxeth cauld (cold),
And fades away like the morning dew.
O wherefore should I busk my heid (adorn my head)?
Or wherefore should I kame (comb) my hair?
For my true love has me forsook,
And says he'll never love me mair (more).

Now Arthur Seat shall be my bed,
The sheets shall ne'er be fyl'd by me,
Saint Anton's well shall be my drink,
Since my true love has forsaken me.
Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw (blow),
And shake the green leaves off the tree?
O gentle death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am weary.

'Tis not the frost, that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaws (snow) inclemency,
'Tis not sic cauld (such cold) that makes me cry,
But my love's heart grown cauld to me.
When we cam in by Glasgow town,
We were a comely sight to see;
My love was clad in the black velvet,
And I my sell in cramasie (crimson).

But had I wist (known), before I kiss'd,
That love had been sae ill to win,
I'd lock my heart in a case of gold,
And pin'd it with a silver pin.
Oh, oh! if my young babe were born,
And set upon the nurse's knee,
And I my sell were dead and gane,
For a maid again I'll never be.[4]
(Lyrics courtesy of Wikipedia)


For more information, please feel free to contact me at: jmsgu3 "at" gmail.com
James M. Guthrie, ASCAP
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