For the first time in 37 years, the Tabernacle Choir has made a recording of the complete oratorio of Handel's "Messiah." The choir was directed in the recording by Sir David Willcocks, one of the most eminent choral conductors in the world.
The recording was released in mid-May.Sir David said in a Church News interview that upon his arrival in Salt Lake City in February to begin the recording sessions, he found the choir "had been very, very well trained by Dr. Jerold Ottley."
Sir David said of the 325 members of the choir: "I feel they're not just a body of singers, but also that they are family. There is a great feeling of unity in the choir. Obviously, they're all dedicated to their work. It takes real dedication on their part to keep that program\ "Music and the Spoken Word"T going. I get the impression that they not only sing the notes but also try to get behind the meaning of the text and try to identify themselves with the gospel story.
"It was a very great joy to work with them. Obviously, the recording the choir made was a very different sort of performance than Handel would have known himself. He kept adapting the work, and as it has come down to us, it's in many different versions. The recording we did is what has come to be regarded as the standard version of the work." (The version the Tabernacle Choir recorded under direction of Sir David is the 19th-century edition of the score by Ebenezer Prout.)
Sir David said, "It is interesting to see how Handel was prepared to adapt himself to changing conditions. I think if he were here with us today, he would be only too pleased to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with 325 singers singing his work. What you lose in detail in working with a chorus this size you gain in majesty and grandeur. Dr. Ottley trained the singers to sing lightly and delicately."
Sir David, 75, has spent most of his life immersed in music. "At the age of 8, I went to sing at Westminster Abbey," he said. "Some services were sung by boys; sometimes they had girls sing. We were taught when we went there that we were part of tradition that went back nearly a thousand years and we were responsible for keeping that tradition and enhancing it. Whenever we sang Handel's music, we could see the statue of him there, and we were told that he, himself, had directed music in Westminster Abbey on several occasions. It was wonderful to feel that I was actually singing in the building where Handel himself worked."
Early in his career, Sir David was a chorister at Westminster Abbey from 1929-1933, before going to Clifton College as a music scholar, and to King's College at Cambridge as an organ scholar. After military service, he returned to King's College and became organist of Salisbury Cathedral, from 1947-50. Concurrently, he was conductor of the City of Birmingham Choir and of the Bradford Festival Choral Society. In 1957, he became organist of King's College Chapel and director of the chapel choir. In 1973, he directed the chapel choir in a recording of Handel's "Messiah."
In 1960, Sir David became conductor of the Bach Choir in London, a post he still holds. Knighted in 1971, he has toured throughout the world as a choral conductor.
He said he became aware of the Tabernacle Choir when it performed in the Royal Albert Hall in London about 20 years ago. "I wasn't clear to attend the concert, but the name registered and I heard people say they had records of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir," he said. "Then I came to Utah four years ago to conduct mass children's choirs at Brigham Young University.
"While I was in the area, Dr. Ottley invited me to come direct the choir in one of its Sunday morning broadcasts. As I began to conduct, I realized it was a very fine choir."
Sir David was in Salt Lake City Feb. 15-22 for the recording sessions of Handel's "Messiah." On Sunday, Feb. 19, he again conducted the choir during its "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast.
He said there are many fine choirs in the world, and many of them are professional choruses. "What is so good about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is what is being achieved by people who are amateurs in the sense that they aren't paid anything. They're not professional singers. They're ordinary men and women who have other jobs, but spend most of their free time devoting themselves to this. There are so many aspects of a choir that can be judged. If you're going to give so many marks for singing in tune, so many marks for clarity of words, so many marks for balance of parts, and so many marks for blend, you will probably find professional choirs that are technically better. But the spirit. Ah! That is what is different. The spirit is there in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
"I doubt if you could get many choirs that have a greater spirit, a better cohesion, a better understanding of what they're singing than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I wouldn't like to go around saying that this is the greatest choir in the world, but it has a particular quality which you rarely meet. It's a quality that you cannot buy."
Sir David said Night Technology International\ which made and is marketing the recordingT chose the choir to be a showcase for its new technology. "Night Technology International has brought out a new system of recording with even better sound than you have on existing digital and compact disc," Sir David said. "NTI wanted to get together one of the finest groups in order to show what could be achieved with their sound."
Bill Raventos, marketing director of NTI, which is based in Provo, Utah, said, "One of the initial thoughts of the album's engineer and producer, John Mosely, was to make the recording in London, with the London Symphony and a professional choir. But John, who maintains residences in Beverly Hills, Calif., and in London, has some influential LDS friends who suggested, `Why not make this recording with the world-famous Tabernacle Choir in a one-of-a-kind environment, the Mormon Tabernacle?' The idea felt good for everyone."
The project was approved. The choir began rehearsing in January, with the recording sessions in February.
The Tabernacle Choir's recording of Handel's "Messiah" runs two hours, 22 minutes and 11 seconds. The complete oratorio is recorded on two compact discs or cassette tapes. A third disc or tape, which is part of the package, contains "behind-the-scenes" happenings during the recording sessions. The recording was released to some bookstores in Utah in mid-May; national and international marketing will begin soon. Inquiries regarding the recording may be made by telephoning 1-800-644-4883.