Topic: Instrumental Versions - Handbells
One oddity about the composers of handbell arrangements for "Kumbaya" is that few actually play handbells themselves. Anna Laura Page studied organ and piano, [1] while John Wilson wrote most of his music for piano, organ, and four-part chorus. [2]
As keyboard players, they applied the melody with chordal accompaniment model to their arrangements. And, if there’s anything a bell choir can do, it’s play many more notes simultaneously than is possible by a single pair of hands, or even an orchestra. Page sounded 9 bells together at one point. Wilson scored 15 in several places.
Several arrangers didn’t see handbells as a descendent of the carillon, but as another percussion instrument to be used in rhythm ensembles. Even Wilson, provided instructions for tenor drums, shakers, and marimba-type instruments. However, most churches ignored his suggestion and assigned those percussive parts to bells. [3]
Jason Krug was in the marching band at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [4] where he played trumpet and trumpet in school musicals. [5] When he returned to his native Indianapolis, he joined the bell choir in his family’s Methodist church. [6] His version of "Kumbaya" used a drum and shaker in constant rhythms. [7]
The bells were dominant in a video uploaded by a Fort Lauderdale Methodist church. Most iterations began with a high-pitched bell playing the melody. Several ended with a strong beat from the drum while the ringers put their bells on the table to dampen the sound for a moment of silence.
Krug used progressively more bells at one time, and Christ Church let the overtones die naturally. While the supporting bells often played chords for the melody, in the later repetitions they were rhythmic or long-short rather than the regular strikes on down beats at the beginning.
Performers
Jason Krug
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells, 3-6 octaves
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: djembé, shaker
Christ Church
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: bell choir
Instrumental Accompaniment: sounded like an organ in one place
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum, shaker
Conductor: Chuck Stanley
Credits
Jason Krug
Jason W. Krug
Based on a traditional African-American spiritual
© 2010 Lorenz Publishing Company
Christ Church
arr. Jason W. Krug
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5,
Time Signature: 2/2
Tempo: Lively, quarter note = 116 beats per minute
Key Signature: Begins with no sharps or flats
Basic Structure: melody and rhythmic accompaniment
Notes on Performance
Christ Church
Occasion: Sunday service
Location: Altar, next to the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: white shirts, except one man in yellow; men wore ties; white gloves. The conductor and shaker player wore the blue robes of choir members.
Notes on Movement
Christ Church
The ringers stood in two rows behind tables covered with white clothes. Stanley conducted with his forearms. The older woman playing the shaker made small movements. Music stands were on the table and the ringers turned pages.
Notes on Audience
Christ Church
They applauded at the end.
Notes on Performers
Fort Lauderdale began growing when the navy trained pilots there. [8] It continued expanding in the 1950s when the existing Park Temple Methodist Church organized the new Christ Church congregation in the Coral Ridge neighborhood. The congregation expanded again in 2003 when it merged with the Methodist church in Pompano Beach. [9]
The handbell choir director was then the minister of music at Pompano. Chuck Stanley was raised as a Roman Catholic [10] and began publicly playing organ when he was 14 [11] Armed with a degree in computer science, he worked for the Broward County Schools until he retired. In the evenings and on weekends he played organ and directed choirs in Catholic churches and joined the Nova Singers. [12]
The shaker player probably was Darlene Jones, Christ Church’s pianist. She graduated from the music program at Oklahoma City University, then accompanied "several local theater companies." [13]
The drummer was never shown in the video. Most likely he was sitting to the left of Stanley and was hidden by Stanley’s choir robe. The church’s website indicated Doug Friend was the church’s percussionist. He had played with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra until it folded in 2003. [14]
The Handbell Choir rehearsed once a week to perform once a month. Unlike many churches that said they would train ringers, Christ Church wanted individuals " with experience in bell ringing and an ability to read music." [15]
Availability
Jason Krug
Sheet Music: Dayton: The Lorenz Corporation, 2010.
Christ Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
YouTube: Uploaded by chuckstanleyFL on 31 October 2010.
End Notes
1. For more on Page, see the post for 6 December 2018.
2. "John Floyd Wilson." Hope Publishing website.
3. One exception was the First Congregational Church of Greenville, Michigan. Joy Bells’ director, Trudi Cunningham, used a marimba-like instrument. dreemsnake1 did not credit Wilson when he or she uploaded the video to YouTube on 6 May 2012.
4. "Old Officers." Massachusetts Institute of Technology Marching Band website.
5. MIT Musical Theatre Guild posts on "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1998) and "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum" (1999).
6. "Biography." Jason W. Krug website.
7. Technically, this repetition is termed ostinato.
8. Wikipedia. "Fort Lauderdale, Florida."
9. "Our Story." Christ Church website.
10. "Chuck Stanley. LinkedIn. He graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School.
11. "The Nova Singers Directors." Its website. The Nova Singers recorded "Kumbaya" in 1996 on its New Day CD.
12. About Chuck Stanley. Facebook.
13. "Darlene Jones." LinkedIn.
14. Margo Harakas. "Face The Music." [Fort Lauderdale, Florida] Sun-Sentinel website. 4 June 2003.
15. "Worship Arts." Christ Church website
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