The Music We Play

Handbells can, in principle, be used to play almost any music that can be fitted within a range corresponding to one's resources (in our case 4 1/2 octaves) and the skills of the ringers in playing fast or chromatic passages. For this reason the "Hall of the Mountain King" is quite playable but very few groups attempt Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. This allows us to play a very wide range of music. recently we have played a Boogie Woogie, folk music from Japan, a movement of a Symphony by Mozart, Ashokan Farewell (a hit on Classic FM), spirituals, hymn arrangements, show tunes and original compositions. We sometimes play Christmas Carols, but Wallingford Ringers functions all through the year.