Gij zijt een mensenzoon = You Come From Afar, 1967 - 2016

This closed-form strophic song of five verses is about One who has come from afar to be among us, as opne of our own. Although in 3/8 tempo, there are interesting syncopations, rendering four of the nine measures in 2/4 tempo on the vocal lines, while maintaining the 3/8 pattern in the accompaniment throughout. In two halves, the song begins with a descending phrase, to be balanced by a rising phrase before settling on the tonic. In the Gregorian modal classification, this song would be in an Ionian mode. This is an early Oosterhuis text, and among the first where Huijbers composed his own setting rather than borrowing from classical Protestant hymnody. This represented a radical new development for Huijbers, of no longer seeking directives from Oosterhuis about a prefered or preselected melody, but of tapping into his own creative sources, At this early stage, he was still strongly influenced by plainsong, but also gradually acknowledging the authentic Dutch folksong tradition and even the innate wisdom of the international world of pop music.