The Production of National Racial Innocence

Since when and on what grounds have white American Christians declared themselves innocent of the sins of their generations? When did white American Christianity excuse itself from grappling with the most serious and far-reaching human abuses to make as its object instead the perpetuation of an undisturbed and unchallenged hold on continuity and capital? This chapter examines how mass media contributed to the production of white racial innocence by featuring spectacles of white patriotism and “wholesomeness” including, prominently, Mormon performing acts. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Osmonds enacted a spectacle of innocence that normalized anti-Black racism as an unremarkable element of a “wholesome” morality. Their performances engaged audiences in a silent agreement to “forget” racism and to claim a moral high ground without taking responsibility for the oppression of people of color.

From within the Shadow

This chapter discusses the activities of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir under Spencer Cornwall's conductorship. Cornwall began his tenure by refashioning the Choir's sound. He summoned each Choir member to his office at the McCune School of Music for them to reaudition. By the end of the auditions, Cornwall had cut the membership rolls by 187 from the levels at Anthony Lund's death. Cornwall brought not only new standards but a new set of ideals, attitudes, and rehearsal techniques. In the Choir's tone and delivery, Cornwall seemed to care most about dynamics, straight tone, and enunciation. As for the pacing and mood of rehearsals, Cornwall's public-school career guided his style. This chapter first considers the Choir's conflict with the Utah Symphony and University of Utah choirs before describing its radio and television broadcasts, repertoire, recordings, concerts, and international tours with Cornwall at the helm.

The Power of the Air

This chapter discusses the activities of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir under conductor Anthony Lund, with particular emphasis on its foray into broadcasting. In October 1915, the Salt Lake Telegram reported that Evan Stephens was being fired. A high Church committee, it said, had notified the First Presidency that it was time for Stephens to go in favor of a younger and presumably more flexible, less autocratic man. Lund was chosen as the new conductor, with Brigham Cecil Gates as his assistant. This chapter first considers Stephens's resignation as Choir conductor before describing Lund's initiatives for the Choir. It also looks at the Choir's repertoire and recordings as well as its television and radio broadcasts. Finally, it cites the appointment of Spencer Cornwall as Lund's successor.

Soft Sell

This chapter focuses on the activities of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, first under Jay Welch and later Jerold Ottley. When Harold Lee ascended to the Mormon Presidency, he ramped up the musical forces of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He called dozens of new personnel, most of them academics, to a new Church Music Department that replaced the old Church Music Committee. Church President Spencer Kimball decided to replace Richard Condie with Welch, the conductor of the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus. Welch agreed to direct both the Tabernacle Choir and the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus, but he would soon be replaced by Ottley. This chapter first considers Welch's vision of Choir programming before discussing Ottley's initiatives as Choir conductor, along with the Choir's duties and achievements such as recordings, broadcasts, concerts, funerals, conferences, and international tours.

A Cultural Necessity

This chapter discusses the activities of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir under Richard Condie's conductorship. On August 20, 1957, the First Presidency met to discuss who should replace Spencer Cornwall. They chose Newell Weight, a choral conductor at Brigham Young University, but he was on a two-year leave doing graduate work at the University of Southern California. Condie was appointed initially on a “limited” basis, but ended up directing the Choir for sixteen years. Not long after, Condie was accused of dropping old Choir members and installing in their places his University of Utah students. He was turning the Tabernacle Choir into “a university chorus.” This chapter considers Condie's rehearsal methods for the Choir, the Choir's recordings and its television appearances, domestic tours, and success in the areas of popular music and classical music. It also describes the Choir's identification with conservative Americanism as well as its dwindling reputation.

Buildings and Professors

This chapter discusses the beginnings of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It first considers the construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle on April 6, 1852, before turning to the schoolhouse that Brigham Young built to provide vocal lessons for as many as 200 children at a time under the direction of David Calder, who championed a modified form of John Curwen's Tonic sol-fa method. Graduates of the Tonic sol-fa classes sang in concerts in the Salt Lake Theater, the dedication of which featured an anthem, “God Bless Brigham Young,” or “The Saints' National Anthem”; this suggested that the Mormons now saw their society as self-contained, a new “nation” outside the nation they had left. The music to this new anthem was composed by Charles John Thomas, the newly appointed director of the theater orchestra and, on Sundays, of the Tabernacle Choir. The chapter also considers the acoustics of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the Tabernacle organ, and the appointment of Thomas Griggs as the new Choir conductor on August 19, 1880.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

A first-of-its-kind history, this book tells the epic story of how an all-volunteer group founded by persecuted religious outcasts grew into a multimedia powerhouse synonymous with the mainstream and with Mormonism itself. Drawing on decades of work observing and researching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the book examines the personalities, decisions, and controversies that shaped “America's choir.” Here is the miraculous story behind the Tabernacle's world-famous acoustics, the anti-Mormonism that greeted early tours, the clashes with Church leaders over repertoire and presentation, the radio-driven boom in popularity, the competing visions of rival conductors, and the Choir's aspiration to be accepted within classical music even as Mormons sought acceptance within American culture at large. Everything from Billboard hits to TV appearances to White House performances paved the way for Mormonism's crossover triumph. Yet, as the book shows, such success raised fundamental concerns regarding the Choir's mission, functions, and image.