At The River

"Shall We Gather At The River," performed by Marilyn Horne using the Aaron Copland arrangement, is one of the most beautiful songs I know. If it weren't a Christian hymn, I would want it to be sung at my funeral. The Copland arrangement is so good -- the trumpet part alone is one of the best uses of the instrument since Bach's Orchestral Suites -- that it's amazing that people still go with the 19th Century harmonized version. I am just blown away, and am grateful to iTunes for letting me buy just that one song, instead of having to buy some of the ditsier ones (e.g., "I Got Me A Cat") along with it.