for SATB chorus with assembly, organ, and oboe (or other C inst.)

text by Delores Dufner, OSB
tune from The Sacred Harp, 1844, arr. by ZMH

Augsburg Fortress, 9780800621414

listen

In Dufner's text, Christ calls all weary travelers and burdened believers to drink from his well of life. In this arrangement, a recurring eighth-note motive in the organ and oboe parts depicts the "ever-flowing fountain" Dufner so eloquently describes, while the expanding melodic arches of the melody pull the singers forward toward the "joy no tongue can tell." 

The choir introduces the hymn, singing the first stanza. Subsequent stanzas alternate between full assembly (women, men, all) and chorus, with everyone singing the refrains. 

Composed for the Hymn Festival of the 25th annual Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, July 2007 at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN.