Many years ago, my mother gave me an old upright Philco radio that she listened to on the family farm in Idaho. It belonged to my grandparents and is a cherished family heirloom. It still works, even with antique tubes and wiring. Its wooden frame is smooth and mostly unmarked for all the history it embodies. For me, it is a visual and auditory link between the early years of Music and the Spoken Word and today.
In my mind's eye, I can see my forebears gathered around the radio as they listened to radio station KSL and the Tabernacle Choir broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. Their tiny farm town was hundreds of miles away from Salt Lake City. So it was a small miracle when, on Sunday, they could listen to the Tabernacle Choir in their living room. Week after week, they looked forward to the program's uplifting music and familiar refrains: "From the Crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a program of inspirational music and spoken word. . . ." Those words, from more than seven decades ago, still open the program today.
Music and the Spoken Word has become the world's longest-running continuous network broadcast and is carried over 2,000 radio and TV stations and cable systems. Its remarkable 75-year history reaches back to the earliest years of broadcasting.
The first broadcast was on a hot summer afternoon, July 15, 1929, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. The announcer climbed a ladder to speak into the sole microphone suspended from the ceiling. The mike was "live" throughout the broadcast, and the announcer stayed perched on the ladder throughout the half-hour program. An audio engineer was alerted by telegraph when to start. Hand signals marked the cue to begin.
From the first time Music and the Spoken Word was broadcast, the program was an immediate success. The radio network president sent a telegram: "Your wonderful Tabernacle program is making great impression in New York. Have heard from leading ministers. All impressed by program. Eagerly awaiting your next." The program was off and running.
In 1954, to commemorate its 25th year of weekly broadcasts, Life magazine commented on the program's legacy with these words: "Those who know this program need no arguments for listening to it. . . . Millions have heard them, and more millions, we hope, will hear them in years to come. It is a national institution to be proud of, but what matters more is that Americans can be linked from ocean to ocean and year to year by the same brief respite from the world's week, and by a great chord of common thoughts on God and love and the everlasting things."
In various halls and in different languages, Music and the Spoken Word has been broadcast away from the Tabernacle at locations from San Diego to New York City with more than a score of U.S. cities in between. It has been sent over satellite from many locations outside the United States, including Mexico, Germany, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia, Hungary, Austria, Russia and Israel. The broadcast has originated from World Fairs around the globe, including Montreal, Toronto, San Antonio, Seattle, San Diego and Chicago.
Every week since 1929, young ears have pressed against radios, aging hands have found a familiar station, and anxious eyes have looked for a trusted friend — the choir's broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. It has restored the souls of its listeners; it has seen its audience through war and Depression, peace and prosperity. The inspirational programming it promises has steadied troubled hearts, added upon joys, and led one generation after another to God. And while the times and technology have certainly changed, the essence of this broadcast has remained the same. Week after week, encouraging, comforting, and guiding its audience to greater good, in a world of increasing negativism, this timeless treasure of music and message is a beacon of hope. The broadcast has walked through the pages of history, always there, steady, reliable, and strong in uncertain times.
Since I began announcing the broadcast in 1990, I have seen how one year builds upon the next. The choir continues to receive more and more recognition, winning many awards over its 75 years. But perhaps its most remarkable award is its longevity. In a world so noisy and full of distraction, Music and the Spoken Word is a welcome reprieve. For all who seek to make their days more meaningful, this program of music and message gently reminds its audience of life's purpose and promise.
All who have been involved with Music and the Spoken Word and all who will come after us owe unbounded gratitude to the giants who went before. Always, whether at home in the Tabernacle or abroad in the world, we feel humbly grateful for that legacy and for the honor of participating in its continuing success. We know we are here only for a season, putting our brick in the wall, so to speak, extending our offering to the Lord, the Church, the world.
Time and again, we host dignitaries or feature celebrities on the program, and so many of them get nostalgic. Famous folk and regular people alike continually say that they grew up listening to this broadcast, imagining what it must be like in the Tabernacle and, almost invariably, they say their experience with the choir has been one of the highlights of their lives. For example, in December 2002 Walter Cronkite was the guest narrator for our annual Christmas concerts and for the Sunday morning broadcast. Each evening he spoke to the capacity audience in the Conference Center about fond memories of growing up in Kansas City and listening to the Tabernacle Choir broadcast on an old crystal radio set.
One and all come to the Tabernacle to see and hear the venerable Tabernacle Choir and its broadcast, and they want to take what they felt home with them. Through all the ups and downs, the twists and turns of the past 75 years of humanity, this beloved broadcast has provided inspirational music and words that lift spirits, comfort souls, and bring us closer to the Divine.