In the Forest (Amazing Grace): string quartet, or flute choir

In the Forest (Amazing Grace), for String Quartet. Dedicated to Danielle Cummins. 5 minutes. (2011) Performed on numerous occasions by private, gigging quartets. Appears on the 2013 album, “A Personal Echo.”

This original work by Sarah Wallin Huff creatively weaves the beloved Amazing Grace melody in and out of a second original tune titled “In the Forest,” evoking a meditative and melancholy sense of wandering and reflection, as if hidden from the outside world.

This composition for string quartet was composed in 2011 at the request of Danielle Rosaria Cummins. The piece existed originally as only an unfinished sketch for solo piano, started some years prior; When Wallin Huff was requested to compose a quick-and-dirty string quartet arrangement of the traditional tune Amazing Grace for a formal fundraising banquet being held in two days, Wallin Huff was inspired to take her old sketch of “In the Forest” and turn it into this present “gem of a string quartet” that was instantly well-received and continues to be sought after in performance.

In 2023, Wallin Huff got the opportunity to rework this piece for a flute choir, enabling the sweeping lines to be fleshed out with the gentle tones of 8 flutes.