In the fall of 1970, Jim Erb began rehearsals with his University of Richmond choir, in preparation for an upcoming European tour, the first by a UR choir.  He selected a diverse repertoire and included some traditional American songs for the European audiences.  He developed an arrangement of the folksong “Shenandoah” and made mimeographed copies of his handwritten composition to distribute to the singers.

The choir began performing the piece for local audiences before leaving for Europe in March, 1971.  “Shenandoah” was positioned as the final piece of the tour program and was universally well-received at the various locales—from Twickenham  Girls School outside London, to a small church in the Swiss village of Elgg, to grander venues such as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche in Berlin.  The final tour performance of “Shenandoah” in a church in Iceland resulted in applause, never before heard in that sacred space.   The singers loved the piece and sang it, unprompted, for their tour bus driver, in a hotel bar, and during the return flight to the US.

​The original recording, made in Cannon Memorial Chapel at the University of Richmond, was from a two-track, reel-to-reel used as a master to press an LP of the tour repertoire.

Erb published “Shenandoah” in 1975 and dedicated it to “the University of Richmond Choir, European tour 1971.”  The publisher, Lawson-Gould, described it as "an absolutely stunning setting of this beloved folksong."  In its first year, it sold 20,000 copies.  Since its publication, the Erb family has learned of the arrangement being heard literally all over the world and performed by thousands of choirs, both professional and amateur.  Past choir members report hearing it in a Tokyo gift shop, during part of an ice-skating competition, in the waiting area of a Warsaw airport, and at the end of the Oliver Stone movie, “Nixon.”  Erb said the film's royalty payment would "buy a certain amount of bourbon."
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In 1971, Erb founded the Richmond Symphony Chorus, and “Shenandoah” quickly became part of its repertoire.  At his memorial service at the University’s Cannon Memorial Chapel in December, 2014, the 400 in attendance performed it in its original eight-part harmony. During the 2020 pandemic and in recognition of the Chorus’s 50th anniversary season, 90 members contributed individual audio recordings to produce a virtual performance of “Shenandoah.”  Among its singers were two of the original UR choir. 

In 2021, the members of the 1971 choir held a 50-year reunion, attended by 17 of the original group (plus four members via Zoom).  As part of the festivities, they joined the University of Richmond's Schola Cantorum and Women's Chorale in a performance of "Shenandoah" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrangement.  

A few words about the arrangement from one of the original 1971 choir:  "In Erb's rendition of this folk song, the last note of the first measure and the first two notes of the second measure were changed from the traditional melody as usually sung. I've always felt this simple three note change made all the difference and provided a strong foundation for Erb's arrangement.  A fun fact: this change came from a 'mistake' that was made when he once heard it played. His stroke of genius was deciding to use this mistake to his best advantage!