Yesterday I was killing time by scrolling through Facebook Reels, and many times I press Play to watch the video, but then quickly move on to the next one. Not this reel, though — this one stopped me immediately with the first few notes, I said to myself, “I know that piece! Thatʻs music by Peter Hallock!”

Peter Hallock’s beloved setting of the Easter Canticle [Christ our Passover/Pascha nostrum] has been sung by The Compline Choir in procession on Easter Sunday almost every year since the 1970s, accompanied by the cathedral’s distinctive and irreplaceable Petit & Fritsen hand bells.

The text is drawn from: 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Romans 6:9-11; and 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.

So, Iʻm guessing that the piece was sung on Easter night, April 5, 2026 at the 9:30 pm Compline service at St Markʻs Cathedral in Seattle.

But you want to know something else about this piece?

My husband Carl chose this piece as the processional for our wedding in July 1977. Before then, I was not familiar with the piece but I quickly embraced it as something unique for us, two church musicians. He certainly did not choose a trite, clichē of a piece like Wagnerʻs “Here Comes the Bride.” Not the Pachelbel “Canon in D,” either (Taco Bell, anyone?)

Iʻm also wondering whether anyone else has used this piece as a wedding processional?

What makes the above video so special is not only the composition by Peter Hallock, and the rich timbre of the menʻs voices. Itʻs also the Petit & Fritsen handbells, rich in overtones, in comparison with tinkly handbells typically used for handbell choirs.

I just did a Google search on Petit & Fritsen bells and learned that “Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen, located in Aarle-Rixtel, the Netherlands, is a former foundry, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the Netherlands, with the foundry dating back to 1660.”

At the time of our 1977 wedding, the Lutheran Church of Honolulu did not have their set of Petit and Fritsen handbells — that came later, in the early 90s after we launched a “Buy-a-Bell” fundraising program. For the wedding, we borrowed Whitechapel handbells from Kokokahi Church in Kaneohe, which were played by the Compline Choir of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, which sang at our wedding.

Ah, sweet memories!

For the dedication service of the handbells, Carl Crosier wrote a piece which used all 61 bells!