Volume II The 1978 Allegro Handbell Choir Released: 1978 Original Medium: Vinyl Record, 33 rpm Bronze Edition Released: 2008 Medium: Compact Disc [BUY NOW]

Historical Note
Volume II was the second record produced by the choir, and the last to feature Dwight K. Menard as director before he retired from Union Church and left for Pennsylvania.  It is a studio recording, and one of the few albums to not feature any holiday music.  Volumes I and II are one of two sets of recordings produced and recorded in consecutive years, a "feat" which was not repeated until Volumes VIII and IX in 1998 and 1999.

Although the jacket does not indicate it, the first band on the flip side of this album was the world premiere recording of The Symphony for Bells.  One of the first original handbell compositions written for a full five octave ensemble, it was commissioned from Donald E. Allured for the Allegro Handbell Choir and is as-yet unpublished because it is generally considered too difficult to be marketable.  This 1978 recording of The Symphony for Bells was remastered and released for the first time on compact disc in 2005 on The First 40 Years (Volume XI).

From the Jacket

The Allegro Bell Choir was formed about fourteen years ago and has been a strong part of the music program at Union Church since them.  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 instrest in music.  Their outside interests are as varied as they.  In addition to participating in the music program of Union Church, the group has performed for a variety of civic, charitable, educational and professional organizations and in past years toured the Easter and Great Lakes states and the Western states of the United States, and udring the summer of 1978, toured Europe, with concerts at Paris, France; Berne, Switerzland; Esslingen, Germany; Bonn Germany; Noordwijk, Holland; Sutten, Surrey, England; and Coventry, England.

The bell ringers perform with five octaves (61) of precision-tuned Schulmerich bells, made in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, U.S.

This is the second album which the Allegro Bell Choir has produced.  The first featured music fro the Chrismas [sic] season.  The music on this second album is representative of that which they perofrm on a typical program during the year.  The group performs as many as fifty or sixty of these concerts.

Track List
from the jacket

Recording Credits
from the jacket

The Ringers: Betty Bogg, Gordon Coates, Karen and Laura Geng, Jim and Trey Holt, Ellen King, Roberta Otto, John and Lolly Patterson, Katie Price, Sarah Trainer, Elizabeth Trask, Edith Wood.

Director: Dwight K. Menard

Photography: Bruce Chlevin
Engineer: Mark Rubenstein

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