For 10 years, music students from what is now BYU-Idaho have taken the stage every two years to perform original sacred works by renowned LDS composers — Crawford Gates, Robert M. Cundick, K. Newell Dayley, Merrill Jenson, Daniel E. Gawthrop and A. Laurence Lyon.
With the performance March 15 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle of Brother Lyon's "Visions of Light and Truth," the BYU-Idaho Sacred Music Series is leaving a legacy that lingers for students years afterward and leaves audience members awed that such sound can come from such young people.
And to the best of his knowledge, said BYU-Idaho President David A. Bednar, this university is the only one commissioning original works in this ongoing fashion. The latest in the series marks the sixth in the biennial series and the seventh commissioned work since Darwin Wolford composed "Behold He Cometh" in 1988.
"The first indication of success is the impact it has in the lives of our students," President Bednar told the Church News. "I frequently hear from students who participated two and four years ago and they describe the impact of memorizing all of the scriptural text for the various oratorios, that it lingers with them. The music has had a powerful impact in their lives.
"Second," President Bednar continued, "it has been a real benefit to the audiences in locations where the series has been performed. We find that audiences are delightfully surprised by the quality of the oratorio and the performance of our students. Third, it's provided an opportunity for accomplished LDS composers to focus on sacred music relating to the Restoration."
"Visions of Light and Truth" focuses on the vision of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1820 and has been part of Brother Lyon's life since January 2002 when he began composing the sacred work. Because the oratorio was narrative, Brother Lyon, a professor emeritus at Western Oregon University and a member of the Church's General Music Committee from 1985-1993, turned to his twin, James K. Lyon, a BYU German professor with extensive writing experience, to write the scriptural text.
The final touches of this sacred work were completed four days before the first performance March 9 in Rexburg, Idaho, followed by performances March 11-15 in Arizona, Nevada and Utah. "Visions of Light and Truth" contains 44 separate parts, including three orchestral intermezzos. For the first time in the Sacred Music Series, the soloists were students rather than professionals.
"I geared the music for student soloists," Brother Lyon said. "I felt they had a good enough group up there. Let's see what students can do."
Kevin Brower of the BYU-Idaho Music Department conducted the performance of 200 vocalists and 90 instrumentalists as they shared the story of the First Vision, along with accounts of other visions and prophets through the centuries. "It seemed appropriate to put the Joseph Smith First Vision in the context of other visions," Brother Lyon said. "This was not the first time [a vision] has happened. This is on a continuum, just the way the Lord speaks to His people."
"Visions of Light and Truth" opens with a tenor soloist narrating the Joseph Smith account of the First Vision. The oratorio continues through the prelude to Parts I and II including visions of Moses and the mortal mission of Jesus Christ. At one point, the chorus cries, "Crucify him, crucify him!" In Part III, the "Vision of Light" is restored through the boy prophet.
Brother Lyon, whose other works have been performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, said he was "very humbled" to have been commissioned by BYU-Idaho to compose for the Sacred Music Series, "because it is quite an honor, obviously, to be chosen to do this. I have to give credit to BYU-Idaho. I knew they would do a good job. I couldn't ask for a finer group. They're so dedicated."
Student tenor Scott D. Myler, who performed the voice of Joseph Smith and is a music education major, said: "Experiences like this remind me why I'm going into teaching. My job as a teacher is to inspire students to want to do this. My experience with music is that music can lift, inspire and make us better than we are. I hope to be able to instill that in my students."
E-mail: julied@desnews.com
