It Is Well With My Soul for Clarinet Quartet

Horatio Spafford wrote the words of this now famous hymn after a series of tragedies struck his family. His son died of scarlet fever in 1870, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 caused him financial ruin, and his four daughters were killed in a shipwreck on the Atlantic in 1873. His wife, who miraculously survived the shipwreck, sent Spafford a telegram saying, “Saved alone. What shall I do?” As Spafford was sailing across the Atlantic to reunite with his grieving wife, his vessel passed by the location where his daughters had drowned. He then wrote the words of this hymn. The music was later composed by Philip Bliss and originally entitled "Ville du Havre," named after the sunken French steamship that caused much tragedy. The existence of this hymn has shown Spafford’s incredible faith in the midst of great adversity.

This arrangement begins softly, then gradually increases both dynamically and rhythmically with a climactic key change relaxing into a gentle finale. The melody is featured primarily in the clarinet 1 part, soaring above the arpeggiated accompaniment.