Prins' 'Morning Song'

[barbara lewandowski]

Has anyone played this piece?
I have a question about the 'instructions' of octaves used.
Can it be played with more than 2 but less than 4 octaves?
There doesn't seem to be any restriction except for playing with
'only' 2 octaves.

We play with 2 1/2 octaves comfortably, so I wonder if this
can be played with these bells?

Matthew…what say you?

Barbara
Spirit Bells
Texas

[Matthew Prins]

Barbara, on my arrangement of "Morning Song":

> Has anyone played this piece?
> I have a question about the 'instructions' of octaves used.
> Can it be played with more than 2 but less than 4 octaves?
> There doesn't seem to be any restriction except for playing with
> 'only' 2 octaves.
>
> We play with 2 1/2 octaves comfortably, so I wonder if this
> can be played with these bells?

Absolutely. Adding either the top 3rd octave or the bottom 3rd octave
would work well with this piece, although personally I'd probably add
the top 3rd and (if your G4/A4 ringer is up to it) have him/her play
the F#4 and E4 as well. (The bass is pretty sparse, so this is
probably doable.) I've directed the piece this very way, in fact.

With probably 90% of pieces that are 2-3 octaves, adding just the top
3rd or the bottom 3rd octave works pretty well. One of my choirs is
constantly on the cusp of being able to cover three octaves, so we do
that on a very regular basis. As long as you make sure no crazy things
happen when you pick up only half of the third octave (and sometimes
they do), it's a successful way to bridge the gap.

Matthew Prins
mdp...@gmail.com
www.matthewprins.com