Ring Those Christmas Bells (Handbells): Choral Instrumental Pak

Ryan Murphy's arrangement captures the effervescence of the original while giving you multiple orchestration options, so you can scale it to your needs and resources. The four-hand piano foundation keeps things accessible even when you add handbells or fuller instrumentation, and having the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's recording as a reference point means your singers can hear exactly how to shape the phrasing and energy.

Warmth and lift. The arrangement carries the joy of bells and the nostalgia of a beloved standard without slipping into schmaltzy territory. It has momentum, style, and enough sophistication that adults in your audience will appreciate the craft while families leave humming the melody.

This works for choral programs that want a crowd-pleasing holiday number with real musical substance. You'll need access to at least one or two pianists comfortable with four-hand coordination, and some combination of SATB singers, but the arrangement's flexibility means you can perform it at multiple levels of instrumentation.

• Balance the bell parts with the choir by having them enter on sustained vowels or during breathy consonants; handbells cut through easily and can overwhelm voices if they double the melodic line too directly.
• Shape the four-hand piano accompaniment as its own musical voice rather than just accompaniment. The interplay between the two pianists creates rhythmic vitality that pushes the choir forward.
• Record a rehearsal with just the SATB and piano, then listen back specifically to the soprano line in isolation. Peggy Lee's original recording has a conversational, almost conversional delivery that lives in subtle rubato and phrasing, not tempo markings.

Drop this into the second half of a holiday concert where you want to shift the mood toward brighter, more dance-like energy. It pairs well after a quiet or contemplative piece and can anchor a mixed-repertoire holiday program by giving your choir a chance to sing with full orchestral color and popular appeal.

• Singing with clarity and forward motion in a swing-adjacent rhythmic feel
• Balancing vocal blend across four parts while maintaining lyrical momentum
• Responding to accompaniment texture changes and four-hand piano coordination
• Managing handbells as a complementary rather than competing orchestral layer