Music
Recommended
First Place: The Ward Organist
William MorrisListen to the Out Loud audio version of this fiction piece here. Listen to the interview about this piece here. Never learn to play the organ, the old woman told me. I should call her…
Review: A Book of Verbs is Something to Hear Michael Hicks, Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection: Essays on Mormon Music
Jake JohnsonA book of essays has an upward inflection; it sounds like a question. To essai, in French, is to attempt. To try. But this is not the essay’s reputation. Ideals of ironclad arguments, footnoted discoveries,…
Saints of Song and Speech | Alice Parker, choral arrangements, The Mormon Pioneers
A. Laurence LyonColumbia Records, that national giant of a record company, has beat someone to the punch. To prove that not all good things about Mormons must originate in the West, Goddard Lieberson has produced another of…
Hymns to the Gods | Clinton F. Larson, The Mantle of the Prophet and Other Plays
Gary StewartThe publication by Deseret Book Company of the work of a serious Mor man poet or playwright is not an event to be dismissed lightly, if only because it happens so seldom. Clinton Larson is…
“Rejoice at the Sound of the Organ”
Nicholas ShumwayThe Future of Music in the Church: A Conversation with Reid Nibley and Norberto Guinaldo
EditorFirst Place: The Ward Organist
William MorrisListen to the Out Loud audio version of this fiction piece here. Listen to the interview about this piece here. Never learn to play the organ, the old woman told me. I should call her…
Review: A Book of Verbs is Something to Hear Michael Hicks, Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection: Essays on Mormon Music
Jake JohnsonA book of essays has an upward inflection; it sounds like a question. To essai, in French, is to attempt. To try. But this is not the essay’s reputation. Ideals of ironclad arguments, footnoted discoveries,…
The Quest for Universal Music in the LDS Children’s Songbook
Colleen Karnas-HainesHymn #49
Hal Douglas HimesSinging in Harmony, Stitching in Time
Karen Marguerite MoloneyFrom the Pulpit: The Song of the Righteous is a Prayer unto Me
Sariah TorontoSaints of Song and Speech | Alice Parker, choral arrangements, The Mormon Pioneers
A. Laurence LyonColumbia Records, that national giant of a record company, has beat someone to the punch. To prove that not all good things about Mormons must originate in the West, Goddard Lieberson has produced another of…
Hymns to the Gods | Clinton F. Larson, The Mantle of the Prophet and Other Plays
Gary StewartThe publication by Deseret Book Company of the work of a serious Mor man poet or playwright is not an event to be dismissed lightly, if only because it happens so seldom. Clinton Larson is…
On Mormon Music and Musicians
Lowell DurhamIn the interest of broadening (and corroborating) my thinking about Mormon music, I recently contacted fifty Mormon musicians in an admittedly non-scientific survey. The survey sampled the obvious Church music hierarchy: the General Music Committee,…
Three Recent Tabernacle Choir Recordings | The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Greatest Hits, Anvil Chorus, and Symphony No. 9 (Chorale) in D Minor, Op. 125
Lowell DurhamWhile the Tabernacle Choir’s total output of albums annually may be less than that of some orchestras, no classical recording organization approaches the Choir’s sales per album. This may be attributed to three factors: the…
Worship and Music | Verena Ursenbach Hatch, Worship and Music in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Newell B. WeightWorship and Music in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be had as a single volume or in two separate bindings. One volume (separately reviewed) includes the first seven chapters of the…
Lyrics and Love in Orderville | Carol Lynn Pearson and Lex de Azevedo, The Orders is Love
A. Laurence LyonTo write a musical play based on any church theme or motivate will inevitably invite comparison with the “Father of Us All,” Promised Valley, written by Arnold Sundgard (lyrics) and Crawford Gates (music). Promised Valley…
Three Christmas Hymns: A Christmas Hymn; The Babe of Bethlehem; Away in a Manger
Michael F. MoodyThe LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The German Hymnal
Walter WhippleFor well over a century the German-speaking Latter-day Saints have had their own hymnal. They are currently singing out of the ninth edition (excluding reprints), and many congregations make occasional use of the out-of-print Choirbook…
The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The Japanese Hymnal
Weldon WhippleOf the hymnals discussed in this issue, the Japanese is unique in that it is used by a people with no tradition of hymn singing. The current hymnal is the third used by the Saints…
The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The French Hymnal
Raymond C. GobinEarly in the history of the French missions, Church leaders encouraged the publication of hymnals. In 1899, the Swiss Mission published a collection of Mormon hymns which became the basis of the French hymnody. When…
The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The Spanish Hymnal
Norberto GuinaldoThe Church in the Latin-American countries faces acute problems in relation to music and worship. While this is not readily apparent to the general Church membership and leadership, it is of great concern to aesthetically-minded…
Our LDS Hymn Texts: A Look at the Past, Some Thoughts for the Future
Karen LynnOur LDS hymn texts are a fascinating key to the history of the Church and the changing attitudes and concerns of the saints. Since the publication of the vest pocket hymnal of 1835, each new…
The Birth of Mormon Hymnody
Newell B. Weight“And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.” Thus was recorded the…
The Role of Music in the Reorganized Church
Harold NealSharing the love of music as the common heritage of Mormonism throughout the world, the Reorganization has experienced a steady growth in the use and development of music by its membership. Congregational singing has always…
Choral Music in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Ralph WoodwardChurch music is that music which serves a worshipful purpose in a religious meeting. The Random House Dictionary defines worship as “reverent honor or regard paid to God or a sacred personage. . . .…
Come Into His Presence with Singing
B. W. JorgensenBrothers and Sisters, I have been asked to talk on music as a form of worship, or on the significance of music in worship.* I found in reading some scriptures trying to prepare for this talk that I needed to narrow things down, so my real topic would be something like the religious or spiritual significance of song, and if I were to give a title for it, I would paraphrase Psalm 100, verse 2: “Serve the Lord with gladness: come into his presence with singing.”
Thoughts on Music and Worship
Vereena Ursenbach HatchIn considering the future of music in the Church worship service, a brief inquiry into the scriptures is necessary if musical objectives are to be rooted firmly in the rich soil of doctrinal truth. Too…
The Possibilities of Worship
David L. EgliOne of the central principles of the Restored Gospel is that God created people to be free to diminish or expand their relationship to Him. He invites us all to find joy in our creation…
A Rummage Sale with Music | Donald R. Marshall, The Rummage Sale: A Musical in Two Acts
Stephen L. TannerIt is an unusual talent that can write a collection of short stories, transform them into the script of a musical, compose and direct the music (songs and lyrics), and play the accordion, organ, and…
The Millennial Hymns of Parley P. Pratt
Dean L. MayBorn in 1807 in Burlington, New York, Parley P. Pratt was baptized by Oliver Cowdery in Seneca Lake on 1 September 1830, less than five months after the Church’s founding. Among the first to be…
The 1981 RLDS Hymnal: Songs More Brightly Sung
Karen LynnDialogue 16.4 (Winter 1983): 33–42
About ten years ago the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints decided that its 1956 hymnal was already becoming out of date. An RLDS Hymnal Committee was commissioned to begin work on a new volume, and the result, Hymns of the Saints, was published in 1981. Hymns of the Saints is more than just a revision or reediting of the 1956 hymnal; out of 501 hymns and responses, more than a third are new to this collection.
“Great Spirit Listen”: The American Indian in Mormon Music
P. Jane HafenMisconceptions of native Americans began with the misnomer “Indian” based on a navigational error. Mainstream Mormon art, literature, and music, which grants the American Indians a Book of Mormon history and destiny as Lamanites, embraces…
“A Song for One Still Voice”: Hymn of Affirmation
Susan H. MillerA Song Worth Singing: Mormonism and Music: A History by Michael Hicks
Elaine ThatcherConey Island Hymn: Shore
Glen NelsonChanges in LDS Hymns: Implications and Opportunities
Douglas CampbellHymn
Marion BishopFiddler with a Cause: Leroy Robertson: Music Giant from the Rockies by Marian Robertson Wilson
Ardean WattsSacrament Hymn
Lee RobisonDay Music
Joy K. YoungMeasures of Music
B. W. JorgensenIt came then that Sara dreamed of the flood. It had been the news for weeks, cities all along the Front sandbagging streets, sidewalks, driveways, window wells, a mudslide that made a lake over a…
Correlated Praise: The Development of the Spanish Hymnal
Hugo N. OlaizMusic of a “More Exalted Sphere”: The Sonic Cosmology of La Monte Young
Jeremy GrimshawA Shaker Sister’s Hymnal
Elizabeth PinboroughRequiem in L Minor
Karen RosenbaumToday the L’s. In the old address book, the L pages are impossible—phone numbers lined out, zip codes scratched in, whole entries x’d or margined with a question mark. Even the H’s are more decipherable.…
My Mother Tongues
Michael HicksTao Song
Ronald WilcoxLyric of the Larks
Ronald WilcoxHymns: The Brick Church Hymnal: Extracts from an Autobiography
Christian AsplundPersonal Voices: Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection
Michael HicksRound Table: Now Let Us Revise
Brian JonesHow to Be Alone with a Flute
Will RegerResolve
Marilyn NielsonLegacy
Timothy LiuDrum Major
Elizabeth GarciaOye Como Va
Sarah Duffy& the day that i believe is known as pentecost to some
Lara Candlandeaster sunday : : : thinking of you all the way
Lara Candlando hear
Lara Candlandthe vulture-ism of the world (((since god isn’t here)))
Lara CandlandMormons, Musical Theater, and the Public Arena of Doubt
Jake JohnsonThe Lindsey Stirling Effect
Jeremy GrimshawWhy Mormons Sing in Parts (Or Don’t)
Emily SpencerA Voice Crying from the Dust: The Book of Mormon as Sound
Peter L. McMurrayGuest Editor’s Introduction
Michael Hicks“Rejoice at the Sound of the Organ”
Nicholas ShumwayThe Future of Music in the Church: A Conversation with Reid Nibley and Norberto Guinaldo
EditorFirst Place: The Ward Organist
William MorrisListen to the Out Loud audio version of this fiction piece here. Listen to the interview about this piece here. Never learn to play the organ, the old woman told me. I should call her…
Review: A Book of Verbs is Something to Hear Michael Hicks, Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection: Essays on Mormon Music
Jake JohnsonA book of essays has an upward inflection; it sounds like a question. To essai, in French, is to attempt. To try. But this is not the essay’s reputation. Ideals of ironclad arguments, footnoted discoveries,…
The Quest for Universal Music in the LDS Children’s Songbook
Colleen Karnas-HainesHymn #49
Hal Douglas HimesSinging in Harmony, Stitching in Time
Karen Marguerite MoloneyFrom the Pulpit: The Song of the Righteous is a Prayer unto Me
Sariah TorontoSaints of Song and Speech | Alice Parker, choral arrangements, The Mormon Pioneers
A. Laurence LyonColumbia Records, that national giant of a record company, has beat someone to the punch. To prove that not all good things about Mormons must originate in the West, Goddard Lieberson has produced another of…
Hymns to the Gods | Clinton F. Larson, The Mantle of the Prophet and Other Plays
Gary StewartThe publication by Deseret Book Company of the work of a serious Mor man poet or playwright is not an event to be dismissed lightly, if only because it happens so seldom. Clinton Larson is…
On Mormon Music and Musicians
Lowell DurhamIn the interest of broadening (and corroborating) my thinking about Mormon music, I recently contacted fifty Mormon musicians in an admittedly non-scientific survey. The survey sampled the obvious Church music hierarchy: the General Music Committee,…
Three Recent Tabernacle Choir Recordings | The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Greatest Hits, Anvil Chorus, and Symphony No. 9 (Chorale) in D Minor, Op. 125
Lowell DurhamWhile the Tabernacle Choir’s total output of albums annually may be less than that of some orchestras, no classical recording organization approaches the Choir’s sales per album. This may be attributed to three factors: the…
Worship and Music | Verena Ursenbach Hatch, Worship and Music in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Newell B. WeightWorship and Music in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be had as a single volume or in two separate bindings. One volume (separately reviewed) includes the first seven chapters of the…
Lyrics and Love in Orderville | Carol Lynn Pearson and Lex de Azevedo, The Orders is Love
A. Laurence LyonTo write a musical play based on any church theme or motivate will inevitably invite comparison with the “Father of Us All,” Promised Valley, written by Arnold Sundgard (lyrics) and Crawford Gates (music). Promised Valley…
Three Christmas Hymns: A Christmas Hymn; The Babe of Bethlehem; Away in a Manger
Michael F. MoodyThe LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The German Hymnal
Walter WhippleFor well over a century the German-speaking Latter-day Saints have had their own hymnal. They are currently singing out of the ninth edition (excluding reprints), and many congregations make occasional use of the out-of-print Choirbook…
The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The Japanese Hymnal
Weldon WhippleOf the hymnals discussed in this issue, the Japanese is unique in that it is used by a people with no tradition of hymn singing. The current hymnal is the third used by the Saints…
The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The French Hymnal
Raymond C. GobinEarly in the history of the French missions, Church leaders encouraged the publication of hymnals. In 1899, the Swiss Mission published a collection of Mormon hymns which became the basis of the French hymnody. When…
The LDS Hymnal: Views on Foreign Editions: The Spanish Hymnal
Norberto GuinaldoThe Church in the Latin-American countries faces acute problems in relation to music and worship. While this is not readily apparent to the general Church membership and leadership, it is of great concern to aesthetically-minded…
Our LDS Hymn Texts: A Look at the Past, Some Thoughts for the Future
Karen LynnOur LDS hymn texts are a fascinating key to the history of the Church and the changing attitudes and concerns of the saints. Since the publication of the vest pocket hymnal of 1835, each new…
The Birth of Mormon Hymnody
Newell B. Weight“And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.” Thus was recorded the…
The Role of Music in the Reorganized Church
Harold NealSharing the love of music as the common heritage of Mormonism throughout the world, the Reorganization has experienced a steady growth in the use and development of music by its membership. Congregational singing has always…
Choral Music in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Ralph WoodwardChurch music is that music which serves a worshipful purpose in a religious meeting. The Random House Dictionary defines worship as “reverent honor or regard paid to God or a sacred personage. . . .…
Come Into His Presence with Singing
B. W. JorgensenBrothers and Sisters, I have been asked to talk on music as a form of worship, or on the significance of music in worship.* I found in reading some scriptures trying to prepare for this talk that I needed to narrow things down, so my real topic would be something like the religious or spiritual significance of song, and if I were to give a title for it, I would paraphrase Psalm 100, verse 2: “Serve the Lord with gladness: come into his presence with singing.”
Thoughts on Music and Worship
Vereena Ursenbach HatchIn considering the future of music in the Church worship service, a brief inquiry into the scriptures is necessary if musical objectives are to be rooted firmly in the rich soil of doctrinal truth. Too…
The Possibilities of Worship
David L. EgliOne of the central principles of the Restored Gospel is that God created people to be free to diminish or expand their relationship to Him. He invites us all to find joy in our creation…
A Rummage Sale with Music | Donald R. Marshall, The Rummage Sale: A Musical in Two Acts
Stephen L. TannerIt is an unusual talent that can write a collection of short stories, transform them into the script of a musical, compose and direct the music (songs and lyrics), and play the accordion, organ, and…
The Millennial Hymns of Parley P. Pratt
Dean L. MayBorn in 1807 in Burlington, New York, Parley P. Pratt was baptized by Oliver Cowdery in Seneca Lake on 1 September 1830, less than five months after the Church’s founding. Among the first to be…
The 1981 RLDS Hymnal: Songs More Brightly Sung
Karen LynnDialogue 16.4 (Winter 1983): 33–42
About ten years ago the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints decided that its 1956 hymnal was already becoming out of date. An RLDS Hymnal Committee was commissioned to begin work on a new volume, and the result, Hymns of the Saints, was published in 1981. Hymns of the Saints is more than just a revision or reediting of the 1956 hymnal; out of 501 hymns and responses, more than a third are new to this collection.
“Great Spirit Listen”: The American Indian in Mormon Music
P. Jane HafenMisconceptions of native Americans began with the misnomer “Indian” based on a navigational error. Mainstream Mormon art, literature, and music, which grants the American Indians a Book of Mormon history and destiny as Lamanites, embraces…
“A Song for One Still Voice”: Hymn of Affirmation
Susan H. MillerA Song Worth Singing: Mormonism and Music: A History by Michael Hicks
Elaine ThatcherConey Island Hymn: Shore
Glen NelsonChanges in LDS Hymns: Implications and Opportunities
Douglas CampbellHymn
Marion BishopFiddler with a Cause: Leroy Robertson: Music Giant from the Rockies by Marian Robertson Wilson
Ardean WattsSacrament Hymn
Lee RobisonDay Music
Joy K. YoungMeasures of Music
B. W. JorgensenIt came then that Sara dreamed of the flood. It had been the news for weeks, cities all along the Front sandbagging streets, sidewalks, driveways, window wells, a mudslide that made a lake over a…
Correlated Praise: The Development of the Spanish Hymnal
Hugo N. OlaizMusic of a “More Exalted Sphere”: The Sonic Cosmology of La Monte Young
Jeremy GrimshawA Shaker Sister’s Hymnal
Elizabeth PinboroughRequiem in L Minor
Karen RosenbaumToday the L’s. In the old address book, the L pages are impossible—phone numbers lined out, zip codes scratched in, whole entries x’d or margined with a question mark. Even the H’s are more decipherable.…