This well-loved American Hymn dates from the 19th century, when the practice of shape-note singing was widespread throughout the country as a way of teaching every citizen to read music and vast outdoor 'camp meetings' were heldregularly for the purpose of praise through song. John Jacob Niles's arrangement for Upper Voice Choir (SSA) is true to the musical spirit of the hymn's origins in being modal, stirring and largely homophonic.