Het lied van de doper = Song Of The Baptist, 1973 - 2001

This is a song from Oosterhuis' transitional years, since his Studentenekklesia, which had been hosted by the Jesuit Ignatius College (1960-1970) was expelled on theological and disciplinary grounds. Exiled into the wilderness, temporary housing was found in the Protestant Amstelkerk [one-time Napoleonic stables] (1970 - 1985), and then in Mennonite Singelkerk (1985-1990). Eventually, renting as dedicated space on the Keizersgracht in the Rode Hoed in 1990, the community continues to flourish even through turbulent times. Never having had a property of its own since the Ignatius, and most recently through the devastation caused by the pandemic, . Oosterhuis. Now approaching his 90th birthday, has seized on the wilderness Prophet as the symbol of deracination. Huijbers’ setting, in 2:4, is a quasi-folk melody, moving fairly steadily against a march-like, block chord accompaniment. No tempo indication is given, but the piece automatically flows from one verse to the next. It is most clearly identified with the Dorian mode with its flattened third. Scored for SATB choir, though individual verses may be sung in unison by various choir sections, the last line of each verse is for full SATB voices joined by the assembly.