We plough the fields, and scatter

In his setting of the German hymn Wir pflügen und wir streuen, with a text translated by Jane Campbell, Rutter keeps the voices largely in rhythmic unison, skilfully bringing variety through variations to the timbre and dynamics from verse to verse. The text’s focus on praise and thankfulness for a successful harvest makes it especially suitable for Thanksgiving and Harvest services, though it is equally effective as a general song of praise for other religious ceremonies.

The piece is part of a wider collection of hymn arrangements, which have been recorded by the Cambridge Singers, directed by John Rutter, on the Collegium CD Sing, ye heavens (COLCD 126).