MUSIC IN HAND BELL CHOIR RINGS IN CHRISTMAS.

Byline: Larry Grooms Special to the Daily News

LANCASTER - Performing music with 12 people ringing 24 hand bells takes a good sense of timing, powers of concentration and a year or more of trial and error practice.

But for the hand bell choir at Grace Lutheran Church in Lancaster, the payoff comes now at the Christmas season.

Garbed in blue robes and white gloves, their polished brass bells reflecting candlelight in the sanctuary, the bell ringers bring an old world musical aura to services.

The bells of Grace, which first rang out at a Thanksgiving Eve service back in 1979, will be heard again at the 7 p.m. Christmas Eve service.

Candy Doerfler, Grace Lutheran Handbell Choir director since 1980, says the small group is incredibly diverse, with ringers ranging from high school students to people in their 70s.

``We're sort of the black sheep squadron, a bunch of misfits all working together in one group,'' Doerfler says with a laugh. ``They do an excellent job, and I have high expectations. I'm always looking for new music, and we're always learning. The music just keeps getting better and better. We could use the same music, but that's boring. You can't just stay at one level. We're not just doing this for ourselves, but for the glory of God.''

Three of the musicians - Dennis and Arlene Klein, and Corinne Nuckolls - are also charter members. The bell choir formed after the bells were given to the church in memory of longtime member John Hilgendorf. Doerfler says people in the bell choir have to be dedicated in attending practices and concerts.

``Hand bells are something where everybody has two notes. If you're missing, there's nobody to play your part. We have 48 bells, a range of four octaves, plus Big Bertha, a low C bell,'' the director said.

Playing bells with even one ringer absent is ``like playing a piano with two keys missing,'' she adds.

In their old English origins, bell choirs simply played a single note at a time. But today's bell choirs regularly perform complex arrangements involving swings and staccato and the use of mallets.

And where other musicians play from a score written for each instrument, bell ringers play from sheet music with all the notes. Each ringer must concentrate on seeing the notes for his or her bells.

At this year's Christmas Season services, the titles are all familiar: ``Hark the Herald Angels Sing,'' ``Little Drummer Boy,'' ``Angels We Have Heard on High'' and other traditional favorites.

Doerfler is a member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers and for years attended seminars and workshops to learn more about the music. While hand bell playing appears almost effortless, Doerfler says the appearance is deceiving.

``At first you feel totally incompetent. But you can be fairly comfortable within at least a year. Everybody fumbles around at first.''

She quotes a former bell ringer as saying: ``If you want to feel humble, just play the bells.''

Although the bells cast in solid brass by Malmark Handbells in Pennsylvania look sturdy enough to take abuse and can last for hundreds of years if properly cared for, Doerfler says the finely tuned instruments are actually delicate.

That's why ringers wear white gloves. A mere handprint on a bell can leave enough skin oil to damage the brass and change the tone. Bells can also be broken by dropping, or from a rapid change in temperature.

When the bell choir performed out-of-doors at the Lancaster Oldtown Site Holiday Walk recently, bell ringers had to let the bells acclimate to the cold air before ringing out the first note.

The Grace hand bell choir's musical high season usually begins in September, following a summer break, and runs through the Easter season and Ascension Day.

The bell choir typically takes part in services on the second Sunday of each month. Doerfler says there have been two or three special performances by the bell choir. One of them was for her wedding.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The hand bell choir at Grace Lutheran Church in Lancaster is planning a concert on Christmas Eve.

(2 -- color) Candy Doerfler, left, directs members of the hand bell choir, who need precision timing, concentration and dedication.

(3 -- color) Marlene Warren uses a mallet to play her part of a hand bell piece.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer