Volume II (Allegro Bronze Edition)

by Allegro Handbell EnsembleAllegro Handbell Ensemble
Allegro Handbell Ensemble: Volume II (Bronze Edition)
$9.99 List Price $19.99
Media

Share this:

The unique performance of the 1978 Allegro Handbell Ensemble has been digitally remastered and is now presented in the Allegro Bronze Edition series.

In celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of its recording, the unique performance of the 1978 Allegro Handbell Ensemble has been digitally remastered from a clean, original LP pressing and is now presented as part of the Allegro Bronze Edition series.

The works include some of the earliest original music written for handbells, and many have never been released on campact disc.

From the Record Jacket

Volume II (1978)The Allegro Handbell Ensemble was formed in 1967 and has been a strong part of the music program at Union Church since then. There are currently fourteen members of high school age who have been ringing from two to six years. All of them read music and display strong interest in music. Their outside interests are as varied as they. in addition to participating in the music program at Union Church, the group has performed for a variety of civic, charitable, educational and professional organizations, and in past years toured the Eastern and Great Lakes states and the Western states of the United States, and during the summer of 1978, toured Europe, with concerts at Paris, France; Berne, Switzerland; Esslingen, Germany; Bonn, Germany; Noordwijk, Holland; Sutton, Surrey, England; and Coventry, England.

The bell ringers perform with five octaves (61) of Schulmerich bells, made in Sellersville, Pennsylvania.

This is the second album which the Allegro Handbell Ensemble has produced. The first featured music for the Christmas season. The music on this second album is representative of that which they perform on a tylpical program suring the year. The group performas as many as fifty or sixty of these concerts.

About the Director

Additional Information from the Allegro Bronze Edition: A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, Dwight K. Menard received a Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master of Music from Northwestern University, Illinois, and did extensive post-graduate work in organ with Grigg Fountain at Northwestern University. He was selected to appear in the 1969 issue of Outstanding Young Men of America, and became Director of Music at Union Church in 1971. Menard also received many awards, including the Presser Award of Philadelphia and the Performance Award from the American Guild of Musical Artists of New York.

Dwight K. Menard Menard left Union Church in 1978 after transitioning directorship to his successor, Michael Surratt, and moved to New Jersey, where he lost his life to cancer in 1984. Menard was highly regarded by his vocal and instrumental pupils, and members of the 1971-1979 Allegro Handbell Ensembles commissioned William A. Payn of Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, to write a handbell composition in his memory. Payn wrote a beautiful score describing his friend in music. Originally titled Tombeau, but published as Elegy, the premiere studio recording of the work, performed by the 1990 Allegro Handbell Ensemble directed by Michael Surratt, is featured as a special track on this Allegro Bronze Edition album.

This disc includes a second work composed for the Allegro Handbell Ensemble during Menard's tenure: Donald E. Allured's unpublished Symphony for Bells.

Track List

Track Title Time Composer, Arranger
1. Fugue in G Major, BMV 577
4:09
Johann Sebastian Bach
2. Evergreen
3:29
Barbra Steisand,
arr. B. Boomsma
3. Textures
4:11
Evrett J. Hilty
4. Plink, Plank, Plunk
3:28
Leroy Anderson
arr. R. Ivey
5. La Cathedrale englouite 7:10
Claude Debussy,
arr. D. K. Menard
6. Symphony for Bells
"Composed for the
Allegro Handbell Ensemble

and dedicated to the loving
memory of Barbara Teschner."

11:38 Donald E. Allured
7. Liebeslieder Waltz, Op. 52, #1
1:11
Johannes Brahms,
arr. M. L. Thompson
8. Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
7:50
Edvard Grieg,
arr. B. Grace
9.
Bronze
Edition
Bonus
Track

Serenade for a Picket Fence
(recorded by the 1990 Allegro Handbell Ensemble)
4:30
Norman Leyen,
arr. Mary Kay Parrish
10.
Bronze
Edition
Bonus
Track

Elegy
(recorded by the 1990 Allegro Handbell Ensemble)
"Commissioned in memory of Dwight K. Menard by members of the 1971-1979 Allegro Handbell Choirs."
6:49
William A. Payn

Recording Credits

The Ringers: Betty Bogg, Gordon Coates, Karen Deng, Laura Deng, Jim Holt, Trey Holt, Ellen King, Roberta Otto, John Patterson, Lolly Patterson, Katie Price, Sarah Trainer, Elizabeth Trask, Nancy Trask

Recorded Spring 1978

Photography by: Bruce Chlevin
Engineer: Mark Rubenstein
Directed and Produced by: Dwight K. Menard

This recording is copyright 1978 by the Allegro Handbell Choir and the Union Church of Hinsdale, Illinois.

Allegro Bronze Edition Recording Credits

Digital Remastering, Post Production, and 1990/1993 Recording Engineer: Gerald G. LeCompte

2008 Instrument Photography and Graphic Design: Daniel M. Reck, forzandoArts

Track 9 Musicians: Michael Surratt conducting the 1993 Allegro Handbell Ensemble: Michael Becker, Jennifer Bodziak, Katherine Bodziak, Chris Dayton, Amy Dickerson, Steve Dickerson, Matthew Eigel, Johan Ericsson, Jennifer Kyne, Sarah Lambert, Dana Oesterlin, Courtney Schaefer, Karin Scheftner, and Sarah Wentling

Track 10 Musicians: Michael Surratt conducting the 1990 Allegro Handbell Ensemble: Andrew Berg, Jennifer Bodziak, Marnie Choice, Jason Cooper, Ssanne Day, Chris Dayton, Steve Dickerson, Jill Jung, Sara Linderman, Jennifer Means, Joel Riemer, Courtney Schaefer, Karin Scheftner, Cary Tice, and Michelle Vukas

This recording is copyright 1978, 1990, 1993, and 2008 by the Allegro Handbell Ensemble and the Union Church of Hinsdale, Illinois.
Reprinted with permission.