America's choir

Eighty years ago—on July 15, 1929—the Mormon Tabernacle Choir began broadcasting a weekly radio program, "Music and the Spoken Word," that continues to this day, making it the longest running live broadcast in history. Today, nearly 4,200 broadcasts later, the weekly program is carried on more than 2,000 radio, television, cable and satellite stations, as well as on the Internet. This morning the choir is celebrating its 80th birthday and officially launches its ninth decade of broadcasting.

Technology has changed dramatically during the eight decades since that first July broadcast. The first network radio broadcast featured a single microphone hanging from the ceiling of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. An engineer received his starting "on air" signal by telegraph. And the announcer perched on top of a ladder during the half-hour program to speak into the hanging mike.

Dating from August 1847, just one month after the Mormon pioneers first entered the Salt Lake Valley, the choir is one of the largest and oldest choirs in the world. It has performed before at least ten U.S. presidents, won scores of awards, sold millions of records, and sung before delighted audiences in many countries, including taking part in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The choir's annual Christmas concert, taped each Christmas season and shown the following year during the holidays, is one of the most-watched broadcasts on PBS television stations across the country. President Ronald Regan (1911–2004) dubbed the choir "America's Choir" when it sang at his first presidential inauguration in 1981.




I have long admired the Tabernacle Choir. Though many years have passed, I still have vivid memories of the first time I heard the choir in person. It was Easter Sunday in April 1966. I was 16 years old. An older brother and I had traveled from Idaho to Utah for the annual conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At the closing session of the conference that afternoon, David O. McKay (1873–1970), who was the ninth president of the Church, delivered his own final address and left his blessing upon the Church. He was advanced in age, and it proved to be the last sermon he ever personally gave in a general conference. We loved and sustained him as our prophet.

As he finished speaking, the mighty organ and choir joined together in "The Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. As is the tradition with this Easter anthem, the congre­ga­tion stood. After the last powerful strains had filled the air, the choir softly and reverently intoned President McKay's favorite hymn:

I need thee every hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like thine
Can peace afford.

I need thee;
O I need thee;
Every hour I need thee!
O bless me now, my Savior;
I come unto thee!

It was an electrifying moment. I doubt there was a dry eye or an untouched soul in the entire Tabernacle.