
A cappella
Primitive yet profound, Richard Hutchins' 1761 poem, "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" alludes to Song of Solomon 2:3 ("As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste") a metaphor for Christ as well as other descriptions of "the tree of life" in both the Old and New Testaments. This new setting for unaccompanied SATB voices captures the rustic quality of the text with a rising-and-falling folksong-like melody, attractively harmonized.