The poetic early 20th-century text explores the vast reach of God's love by contrasting it to human experiences. The first half of Benjamin Kornelis's tune is sturdy and pentatonic--lending an early American feel, and the second half softens, introducing the 7th of the scale. Additional contrasts--between unison and divisi voices, accompanied and a cappella sections, and the build-up and release of tension--act in service to the text throughout. The piece ends, after a climax in the last stanza, with a gentle restatement of the opening phrase: The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. Duration 3:00.
