In the Beginning is a double album by flutist Hubert Laws released on the CTI and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1974.CTI discography accessed February 7, 2012 The album was later reissued on CTI as two separate volumes entitled Then There Was Light.

Reception Viewed, at the time of its release, as a "Recording of Special Merit" in the estimation of Stereo Review"Recording of Special Merit: Hubert Laws: In the Beginning". Stereo Review. Volume 33. Retrieved 2013-03-29. (which, in addition, proclaimed the "recording excellent," the "performance impeccable," and the resulting album a welcome return to Laws' pre-CTI form),Excerpt from Stereo Review's 1974 review. Google Books. Retrieved 2013-03-29. In the Beginning would provoke a similarly enthusiastic response decades later from Allmusic's Scott Yanow, who awarded the album 5 stars, stating "This double album features flutist Hubert Laws at his finest. The music ranges from classical-oriented pieces to straight-ahead jazz with touches of '70s funk included in the mix... this recording is one of the most rewarding of Hubert Laws' career".Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed February 7, 2012 The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings describes it as Laws’s “best album and a good, expansive representation of his flute playing.”

Track listing "In the Beginning" (Clare Fischer) - 6:53 "Restoration" (Harold Blanchard) - 8:59 "Gymnopédie No. 1" (Erik Satie) - 3:55 "Come Ye Disconsolate" (Traditional) - 5:21 "Airegin" (Sonny Rollins) - 5:32 "Moment's Notice" (John Coltrane) - 6:56 "Reconciliation" (Rodgers Grant) - 10:08 "Mean Lene" (Hubert Laws) - 15:28 Recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on February 6–8 and 11, 1974

Personnel Hubert Laws - flute, arranger Ronnie Laws - tenor saxophone Bob James - keyboards, arranger, conductor Clare Fischer - piano, electric piano Richard Tee - organ Gene Bertoncini - guitar Ron Carter - bass Steve Gadd - drums Dave Friedman - vibraphone Airto Moreira - percussion David Nadien - violin Emanuel Vardi - viola George Ricci - cello

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