The Central Council maintains and publishes collections of compositions, encourages an interest in ringing theory and composition through articles and seminars, and provides advice to ringers about compositions.
Online Composition Collections
There are many online composition collections now available, either containing compositions for an individual composer, those rung for a society, or broader collections. The Change Ringing Resources website provides a useful index of these together with other resources related to composition.
Composition Library
Composition Library is a website that allows composers and others to self-publish compositions and conductors to search for compositions suitable for a particular method or methods, even if not originally composed for them. The Compositions team of the Technical & Taxonomy Workgroup is now using this resource to record the compositions used when methods are first rung, to capture innovative and noteworthy compositions that have been rung recently, and ultimately to capture compositions from all printed and online collections to provide a single comprehensive reference resource for compositions.
Publications
Historically an important part of the Council’s work has been overseeing the creation and publication of collections of compositions. With the advent of searchable online collections, the need and demand for printed publications is declining. However the Workgroup will consider producing further publications if a case can be made. Many of the printed collections can still be obtained from the Central Council Shop and where they are out of print, they can be downloaded for free.
- A Handbook of Composition by John R Leary (1993)
One of very few publications that explains the theory of composition and proof. - A Collection of 10 Bell Compositions (2005)
- A Collection of 12+ Bell Compositions (2005)
Compiled by David Hull and Rod Pipe, and edited by Stuart Hutchieson. Together they form a substantial successor to the 1972 Collection of Ten & Twelve Bell Compositions. Each of the two volumes contains over six hundred compositions, dating from the 1960s up to 2000. The first volume is of individual royal methods, and the second of individual maximus methods, plus a handful of compositions of individual methods on fourteen and sixteen. - A Collection of Grandsire Compositions (2004)
Compiled by Richard Allton. This contains 469 Compositions of Grandsire Doubles to Sixteen. - A Collection of Compositions in Popular Major Methods (2001)
Compiled by Roddy Horton. This a substantial successor to several earlier editions. It contains a wider variety of compositions suitable for a broader selection of methods than earlier editions.
Please see also a [list of corrections<link>] to this collection - The Collection of Universal Compositions for treble-dodging Major methods (2001)
Compiled by Anthony J Cox and the Peals Composition Committee. This contains a wide range of compositions universally true to various combinations of false course head groups. It is essentially a successor to A Collection of Surprise Compositions (the “Wratten Collection”) published in the 1960s, though it covers a much broader range of possible falseness, includes compositions with singles and with the tenors parted, and includes a summary of some musical properties of the compositions included. - A Collection of Compositions of Stedman Triples and Erin Triples (1999)
Compiled by Philip Saddleton. A representative selection of extents by 37 composers on different plans including the first two bobs-only compositions of Stedman, 14 compositions of Erin, and two of spliced Stedman and Erin.
- A Collection of Stedman Compositions (2011) – Download or printed
Compiled by The Peal Compositions Committee. Includes 294 compositions of Stedman from Caters to Septuples and also 38 compositions of Erin from Caters to Octuples. - A Collection of Compositions of Spliced Surprise (1941 – 1995)
Compiled by Roddy Horton and subsequently updated online until 2013 by Richard Allton. - A Collection of Handbell Compositions (2004-2018)
An online collection compiled by Roger Bailey and subsequently maintained by Peter Blight.
Questions and advice
The Compositions team of the Technical and Taxonomy Workgroup has an expert panel which can answer questions about compositions including how to find suitable compositions, how to publish compositions and information on learning to compose. It is also happy to review articles or compositions that you intend to submit to the Ringing World.