The music consists of a chant formula that is repeated and varied to suit the textual phrases. Sing in unison with rhythmically crisp accompaniment on the keyboard or with guitars and flutes/recorders. The notation in eighth and quarter notes does not imply a strict meter or tempo; let the speech rhythms overrule any yearning for a marching beat.
The melody was originally a chant used for the Credo of the Roman Catholic Mass during the seventeenth century (Credo is Latin for "I believe," the first words of the creed). Dutch organist Paul C. Van Westering published a sheet music adaptation of the chant for a Dutch version of the Apostles Creed. The tune SCHOUTEN was named for Maria Henneveld Schouten (b. The Hague, the Netherlands, 1929), who arranged that Dutch setting of the tune to fit the English text of the creed. Schouten was raised in a musical family and in her early years studied organ and piano, first in the Netherlands and later at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto in Canada. She currently lives in Clearbrook, British Columbia, Canada.
John Hamersma (b. Hawthorne, NJ, 1929) harmonized Schouten's arrangement for publication in the Psalter Hymnal Supplement (1974) . Hamersma attended Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and received his master's degree and doctorate in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary, New York City. Since 1954 he has been professor of music and college organist at Calvin College. He has given many organ recitals in the United States and Germany and served as a music consultant for The Children’s Hymnbook (1962) and music editor for Hymns for Youth (1966). Hamersma was a member of the 1987 Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee and currently serves as organist and choirmaster at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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