J,” was the first of several highly skilled British emigrant choir conductors. The previous Nauvoo choir, which had welcomed several Welsh singers into its ranks, started referring to itself as the “ tabernacle choir,” taking its name from the new structure.Ĭharles John Thomas, also known as “C. 1 At the site of the bowery, an oblong, arched adobe building holding 2,500 Saints had been erected for that conference in order to spare the transplanted Nauvoo choir from having to perform outside. The Welsh choir had the ability to “exhilarate those present by singing one of their hymns, to one of their lovely, wild, romantic airs,” according to a visitor to a Church meeting in 1852. ![]() They presented brand-new devotional songs, typically in dialect, and arranged to well-known Welsh tunes, such as “Wend ye with the Saints today,” and songs about heroes, including Joseph and Hyrum. Strong choral traditions among the Welsh led to the inevitable formation of a sizable number of these immigrants. Brigham Young frequently asked for the formation of these choirs, and he made sure that each new batch of colonists in the area included musically talented church members.įollowing significant growth in Wales, hundreds of Welsh converts emigrated to the Great Basin in 1849. Choirs of some kind arose in almost every town due to the obvious necessity for singing ensembles. For the two major public holidays-the Fourth of July and July 24 (the anniversary of the Saints’ arrival into the valley), they also sang patriotic and religious songs. Such choirs performed hymns at early religious services as well as quasi-religious events like the Deseret Theological Institute convocations. “Deseret” is a Book of Mormon word for the honeybee, a sign of work and collaboration. In front of possibly several hundred people, a tiny choir directed by Stephen Goddard performed at the first conference of the Saints in the region they dubbed “Deseret” in August 1847. The bowery was made of thick timber poles and branches. Within a week of arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the first company of pioneers selected a location for a new temple and built a bowery there for the community to use for both religious and civic gatherings. However, the Mormons’ ongoing meetings required sacred vocal music. For a few years, crops rotted, and the desire for musical art was overshadowed by the necessity for survival. The Midwest’s excellent, dark soil was a far cry from the loose, rocky soil of the Salt Lake Valley. The Saints needed some time to reacquaint themselves with the rich cultural diversity they had discovered down the Mississippi after starting over in the remote Rocky Mountain wilderness. Singing in a chorus, however, had a special virtue beyond its advantages to the individual: the harmony of voices represented the beauty of teamwork, Zion’s guiding ideal. Benjamin Rush, the most well-known American physician at the time, had advocated singing as a way to increase lung capacity and obtain the full draft of fresh air that mountain dwellers would need to ward off “consumption” (especially Young, who had battled bouts of what he called “lung fever” for years). ![]() Along with improving the body, it also enhanced the spirit and understanding. Vocal music was a “useful art,” a pursuit that made people feel good. 1 (2003).įor Brigham Young and his supporters, a Saint’s musical training can lead them to Zion. This essay first appeared in Pioneer Magazine’s Vol.
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