The melodic 5-note title phrase of the classic hymn Blessed Assurance provides the starting point for Robert Thurston’s exuberantly creative riff on a beloved American religious tune. Thurston imbues the rhythms, harmonies, and textures of Assurance with a pop sensibility, while observing traditional formal structures—there’s even a 4-part fugue to set up the final third of the piece! Assurance isn’t an arrangement—it’s a highly original, joyous, and fervently spirited musical tour de force.