Hope, affirmation, optimism — contrasting with the shock and grief of a decade ago — pervaded Americans' remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America as the nation observed the 10th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 11. Prominent among the day's tributes and retrospectives was a special presentation by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square of their weekly nationwide television and radio broadcast "Music and the Spoken Word."Titled "9/11: Rising Above," the special was produced and recorded in advance and aired during the program's regular time slot at 9:30 a.m. MDT. It was repeated several times during the day in many major markets throughout the nation.
Guest narrator for the program was Tom Brokaw, the former "NBC Nightly News" anchor who many Americans closely associate with network television coverage of 9/11, both in the aftermath of the event 10 years ago and during this year's anniversary observance. Mr. Brokaw had recorded his segments with the choir and orchestra in a closed session at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Aug. 21.
"It has been 10 years since 9/11, and yet we continue to tell the stories of the children, parents and families, airline passengers and air traffic controllers, the firemen and other first responders, for they inspire and give us hope," Mr. Brokaw said, introducing the program.
"But how do we tell the story of the rest of America, those who watched the images and heard the accounts and were forever changed? As they went through their own experiences with loved ones in war zones and struggled with economic uncertainty at home, they never gave up. The story of America 10 years later cannot be told in words and images alone. Join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in a remembrance of 9/11, of a nation rising above."
The song "Shenandoah" was then performed as images and video clips showed scenes of Americana interspersed with views of the newly dedicated 9/11 memorial at ground zero in New York City, location of the twin World Trade Center towers destroyed by the impact of passenger jets hijacked by terrorists. The inscribed words in one view of the memorial, "Dedicated to those who fell and to those who carry on," seemed to encapsulate the theme of the program.
"The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is, in so many ways, the American choir, because people respond to what they hear," Mr. Brokaw said in a video interview posted on the Church's website, www.lds.org.
"I think using 'Shenandoah' in the 9/11 memorial concert was so appropriate because it speaks to the long reach of our history, and it speaks also to the heart of America. That's the language of who we are in music, and 'Shenandoah' is a beautiful hymn in its own way, very secular, but at the same time it is a hymn and an ode to this country."
Interspersed between the half-dozen musical selections in the program were remembrances on video from citizens regarding the disaster, including eyewitnesses, survivors and loved ones of those who died.
"We saw an explosion; the towers were not too far off in the distance," one man related, "and we came to understand that was the second plane hitting the south tower at the time. It was then that I realized something was wrong, and I turned to the driver and said, 'Take me home.' My time with my family is what I hold most treasured. I didn't think it would be possible or that it would require an event like 9/11 to make me feel any more connected to my wife and my children, but I work to be with my family. I work to have more time with them. The one thing that I have that I can hold on to the most is my family, my faith and my friends."
The choir and orchestra then performed "For the Beauty of the Earth."
A man whose mother was one of the passengers who perished in the hijacked planes said, "The main thing from my mother is her optimism and her love of life and her love and appreciation to the people around her, to give the benefit of the doubt to people around her and to see the good in them and to not shy away from interaction, as I'm prone to do sometimes. Maybe I could be a little bit more like my mother and reach out to people."
Just before a performance of "Homeward Bound," a survivor of the collapse of the towers, said, "My priorities had changed almost in an instant, where I was worried about making the money and the commuting and getting the finer things in life, so to speak, and then realizing that I almost didn't come home at that point and thinking of my wife and kids."
Over bagpipers playing "Amazing Grace," Mr. Brokaw said, "The memory of rescuers — civilians as well as first-responders — the raw courage of the fight-back passengers on Flight 93, those are the images that endure. We wonder, 'Would I be as brave?' Their sacrifice was a personal choice to put others before their own well-being. People of every religious persuasion recognized that this is grace, the willingness to give what has not been earned and may not be deserved. It is certainly the highest virtue and the deepest expression of love for others. Perhaps this is why 'Amazing Grace' has become our salute to those who sacrificed themselves for others. John Newton, first a slave trader then a rescuer of slaves, described this grace as 'amazing.' And so it is."
The program concluded with "God Bless America." Already a patriotic standard for Americans since Irving Berlin wrote it in 1918 and then revised it in 1938, it became the unofficial anthem of 9/11. This, Mr. Brokaw said, is "because so many found comfort and guidance in its soaring stanzas. It bound together a nation in need of a common voice. Today, with arms outstretched to one another and hands willing to serve, America has come together once again. May it ever be so."
Choir general manager Scott Barrick said the idea for the program originated last spring, when program managers of the larger radio and television stations that carry "Music and the Spoken Word" began asking if there was anything planned for the 9/11 anniversary. A program was planned, and an invitation extended to Mr. Brokaw, who accepted it very soon thereafter.As it turned out, he was going to be in Utah at his home near the Sundance ski resort on Aug. 21, the very last day the segments could have been recorded in time to make a great production, Brother Barrick said.
For a variety of logistical reasons, recordings of the program itself will not be available for purchase by the public, Brother Barrick said. However, the full-length versions of the songs — abbreviated for the broadcast — may be purchased as a digital download from the DeseretBook.com website or from iTunes at $5.49 for all six songs or 99 cents per individual track.
