We Gather Together
Trad. Dutch melody (KREMSER), arr. Stephen Paulus
Recording
Dale Warland Singers, Dale Warland
- Album
- Harvest Home
- Year
- 2005
- Length
- Period
- Hymn
- Listen
Painting
Johannes Abrahamsz Beerstraten
Skating at Sloten, near Amsterdam
The piece
The tune and its Dutch text of thanksgiving, “Wilt heden nu treden,” were printed in Adrianus Valerius's Nederlandtsche Gedenck-clanck of 1626, a collection of songs from the Dutch war with Spain. Eduard Kremser arranged it for men's chorus in 1877, and Theodore Baker's English translation followed in 1894.
The recording
Stephen Paulus wrote this a cappella arrangement for eight-part chorus in 2003 for the Dale Warland Singers, the Minnesota choir founded by Dale Warland, who premiered it that year. They recorded it for one of their last albums, made in November 2003 and May 2004 in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul.
Other recordings
For the tune in its 17th-century Dutch form, Camerata Trajectina and Ensemble Oltremontano sing “Wilt heden nu treden” on De Vrede van Munster (Globe).