This is a straight rendition of a traditional American song called “Cleansing Fountain”. It has to be the most gruesome lyrics of any in the Christian canon. Charles Ives, in his piece “General William Booth Enters into Heaven”, includes musical quotes from “Cleansing Fountain” and a few other hymns. He doesn’t use the “Cleasing Fountain” lyrics. In his song, he uses excerpts from a Vachel Lindsay poem, “General William Booth Enters into Heaven”, which includes the question, “Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?” General William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. The poem is a description of his entry in the heaven.
All this is just to say that the song “Cleansing Fountain” has a history, if only as a quote in a great Ives song, at measures 101 to the end. He wrote it in 1914.
I plan to make some alterations over time.
or download here:
Machine5 – Cleansing Fountain v1
