For As the Rain Comes Down

Get out your rainsticks! This original composition calls for 3-5 octaves of handbells with the optional additions of choir chimes, finger cymbals, rainsticks, and your imagination to create the sound of the wind, the rain, and even a thunderstorm! Afdahl begins and ends the piece quietly, almost ethereal, with a marvelous sense of building and easing back. Special techniques include the pluck lift, mart lift, mallet roll, and echos. This composition would work well for either a secular or sacred setting. If used in church, be certain to reference the Isaiah 55:10-13 passage which served as Afdahl's inspiration.

AGEHR Level IV