You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

This Dr. Seuss story has become a Christmas favorite since it was first published in 1957 and many adaptations include animation, live TV production, and live-action feature film and more. The music written for the main villain theme features “heavy, menacing, and jazzy bassline” representative of the Grinch’s “malicious sneakiness during the looting montage.”  Hart shows his amazing gift for adapting music for handbells – using techniques, timbre, and subtleties that result in spot-on-true arrangements that work!  Every note, its technique, and every rest – is critical so the complex rhythms have clarity. It is a ‘buffet’ of techniques from Ring, RT, mallet, mart, mart-lift, and shake. It is marked ‘moderate swing’ with the addition of quarter and eighth-note triplets and occasional ‘straight rhythm’ …and did we mention that there are accidentals and grace notes throughout and all-important dynamics are also included? 

This is certain to be a show-stopper and a fabulously rewarding challenge for bronze level ringers.    

Performance and Recording courtesy of The Raleigh Ringers