Old photographs, carefully studied, often tell intriguing stories.
Consider, for instance, the picture of the Willard (Utah) Ward Choir on this page, taken about 1890. The group is comprised of 40 members, assuming the two youngsters are not among the singers but are just there that day with their parents. Forty is a goodly number for any ward choir, and the Willard group appears to have a fine balance of youthful and mature male and female voices.The choir members assembled for that day's photo session in their best clothes. They gathered outside the meetinghouse, probably to get the best camera exposure. The organ also was moved outside to leave no doubt this is a picture of a choir.
Obviously, the ward choir experience was a significant and enjoyable part of life for these 19th Century vocalists. The photo exemplifies what Michael F. Moody, chairman of the General Church Music Committee, said in a recent interview: "We inherited a wonderful choir tradition in the Church because of the Tabernacle Choir in the Salt Lake Valley in the early days."
Some wards, such as the two in the little central Utah town of Oak City, population about 600, carry forward a practice established more than 100 years ago, when the ward choir was the center of social life.
Though the Oak City 1st Ward choir struggles today with typical challenges - arranging practice times that fit everyone's schedule, and balancing the male voices with the more numerous female voices - the group enjoys an enviable degree of support.
"Our choir members come week in and week out," said Kerry Manis, choir director. "At any practice, we'll have at least 20 people turn out, and if we need to, we can pull more out of the well. We have a lot of talented singers in our ward. Our choir members range in age from 12 to 60."
"We put on Christmas and Easter cantatas," he said, "and during the annual Oak City Days celebration, our ward puts on a choir presentation."
Beyond that, the choir performs in almost every sacrament meeting, doing an opening, closing or special number.
"Sometimes we do a prelude song to help bring about the reverence we need," the choir director said.
He downplays his own role in the choir's success, giving credit instead to choir president Sandy Tanner for fostering spirituality in choir presentations, and to accompanist Eldonna Tanner, a former director herself, who he called the "heartbeat" of the choir.
And it helps, he said, to have the support of the bishopric, two of whom are in the choir's tenor section.
A function of choirs in the Church originally was to support congregational singing, Brother Moody noted. Thus, the more timid singers in the congregation in a sacrament meeting would draw strength and depth from the well-rehearsed and stronger voices in the choir.
Perhaps, he said, a remnant of that tradition is found in the words used as a congregational hymn is announced in general conference sessions: "The choir and congregation will now sing. . . ."
It may be a tradition worth preserving, he commented, and may be a good reason for ward choir members to sing as a choir during congregational hymns and not just during their performance, although it is understandable and acceptable for them to sit with their families.
The Church's choir tradition through the years has been served by an ample selection of LDS choir music.
"Early composers in the Church were eager to have the restored gospel expressed through music," Brother Moody noted. In fact, an 1899 Church hymnal excluded all music that was not created by Latter-day Saints.
"George Careless, Ebenezer Beesley, Joseph J. Daynes, Evan Stephens and Thomas C. Griggs wrote for the Tabernacle Choir," he explained. (All directed the choir except Brother Daynes, who was a choir organist.) "In so doing, they created a unique tradition called the choir hymn."
He pointed out that some of the congregational hymns in the current hymnbook were designated for choir singing in previous hymnbooks. They include "Behold the Great Redeemer Die" (No. 191), "As the Dew from Heaven Distilling" (No. 149) and "Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise" (No. 50). Such hymns have become favorites. For the newest hymnbook they were transposed to a lower key to help make them accessible for congregational singing and in some cases as sacrament hymns.
Because of the tradition fostered in the early days by the Tabernacle Choir, "we have become a church of choirs," Brother Moody said.
In fact, the First Presidency preface in the hymnbook contains this injunction: "Latter-day Saints have a long tradition of choir singing. Every ward and branch in the Church should have a choir that performs regularly. We encourage choirs to use the hymnbook as their basic resource."
Brother Moody added: "Other suitable repertoire that is in harmony with the spirit of the gospel may also be used effectively. But it is difficult to find music that is more effective than the hymns. The familiarity of the hymn works in its favor to warm the hearts of the people. We respond to that which is familiar."
Ideally, provision is made in the budgets of meetinghouse libraries for the purchase of appropriate choir music, but limited funds are a good reason for encouraging the use of hymns for choir selections, he commented.
"In the `Using the Hymnbook' section is information on how hymns can be used for choirs, how to alter them in a way to make them special." (See pages 382, 383.)
And many appealing hymns in the hymnbook are unfamiliar to the Church membership at large, Brother Moody noted. "It would be wonderful if choirs could continue to use the hymnbook and introduce members to the music and messages that they have not yet discovered."
How often should a choir perform?
"Our policy is that choirs should sing in at least two sacrament meetings each month throughout the year. Elder Mark E. Petersen [a member of the Council of the Twelve, now deceasedT used to say every Sunday is even better.
"The Lord does not expect us to do more than we can. We don't expect a small branch to have an organization the caliber of the Tabernacle Choir. But they can take what they have, work with it and improve their talents and contributions to the meetings. The Lord will make up the difference. Surely He is pleased with our best effort. Those who work with choirs need to be undaunted and say, `We're going to have a choir, come what may.' "
With a membership of about 200, the Lebanon (Ky.) Branch regularly ranges from 12 to 20 singers for its choir rehearsals and performances.
"We've had a lot of fun with our choir over the years," said director Dan Kelly, who was bishop when the branch was a ward. "We feel we've done a pretty good job with limited resources. We have a lot of enthusiasm for the music, but nobody in the choir has any formal training. We usually sing every week, although not always as a choir. Sometimes the musical number will be a quartet or a duet."
With the choir being so small, inventiveness is not just desirable but necessary.
"Sometimes, we may have only one bass or one alto," Brother Kelly said. "We'll have that person sing into a microphone to get a proper balance."
He said the choir sings hymns exclusively, and learns one or two new numbers a year. Members spend a lot of practice time in preparation for Easter and branch conference. They have a basic repertoire of selections that can be
polished up and performed on short notice.
"Our choir has been effective as a missionary tool," he said. "We've had hymn-sings' in which we invite other churches to come to our meetinghouse and sing with us. These occasions give us a chance to sing such hymns asI Believe in Christ' that help dispel the false notion that we aren't a Christian church. And we have sung at rest homes and at special community occasions for Christmas or Easter productions."
With all its success, the Lebanon Branch choir faces a challenge common to many choirs: recruitment.
"The policy says the priesthood leadership has the option of either calling members to be in the choir or inviting them to participate," Brother Moody said. "The important thing is that members feel a commitment and a responsibility to attend rehearsals and be faithful."
"One of the difficulties we experience," Brother Moody noted, "is we all love large choirs that sing for stake conference and other special occasions, but sometimes such choirs drain so much of our energy that there is none left over for the ward or branch choir. The function of a ward choir is more important than that of a larger choir, and we need to foster it as an ongoing organization and effort."
In addition to information in the hymnbook, Church resources available for choirs and directors include a videocassette program on how to conduct a hymn, a book of choir music, the Church Music Workshop at BYU scheduled Aug. 4-7 this year, and sections of the Basic Music Course soon to be introduced throughout the Church.
