Singing with the Stars in “The Wonder of Christmas”
By Robb Cundick

Through the years, many of the most universally beloved albums produced by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have been those devoted to the music of Christmas. And nothing better illustrates the appeal of the Choir’s Christmas offerings than the enormous popularity of its annual Christmas concerts.

Christmas in the Conference Center is an amazing sight!

But in recent years it’s not only the allure of the Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square that has filled the 21,000 seat Conference Center to capacity. You have perhaps heard of the contemporary television show “Dancing with the Stars?” Well, when it comes to Christmas, members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have become accustomed to “singing with the stars!”

Bryn Terfel and Frederica von Stade were our 2003 guests.

Since 2001 we have joined voices with star of stage and screen Angela Lansbury, Broadway diva Audra McDonald, and opera luminaries Bryn Terfel, Frederica von Stade, and Renée Fleming. All of these performances have been videotaped and produced for later nationwide release on PBS television. They are also available on DVD. But this year, choice selections from the last five years of fantastic Christmas concerts have been combined on a sensational new recording called “The Wonder of Christmas.”

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Having sung in the Choir for more than sixteen years, there is absolutely no doubt that I am a biased reviewer, but I was thrilled as I listened to this album for the first time. “Where?” I ask, “where could you possibly find a more joyful, spirited and spiritual compilation of Christmas bliss?” OK, so it’s a rhetorical question. But, really, this recording features all the best elements of the Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s Christmas spectaculars.

Mack Wilberg’s Arrangements

The concerts of today’s Choir would never be complete, of course, without the signature arrangements of Mack Wilberg, and this recording includes many favorites.  The combination of Mack’s musical genius with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square is clearly a marriage made in heaven. He has a knack for featuring the best elements of the forces at hand.

The “large” feeling to arrangements such as “Joy to the World,” “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful” (with Bryn Terfel) and “Angels, from the Realms of Glory” (with Renée Fleming) show off the grand scale of a 360-voice choir accompanied by full orchestra and the magnificent Conference Center pipe organ.

Genius at work: Mack Wilberg is deep in thought as he peruses a musical score.

But Mack is equally skilled at showcasing the opposite end of the spectrum. Gentle offerings such as the French carol “Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance Flowing?”; the English carol “The First Nowell” (with Frederica von Stade); and the Catalonian carol “What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger?” present the subtle and delicate side of the Choir and Orchestra, and add an international flavor.  Sung to an orchestral backdrop of Mack’s beautiful counter-melodies, these pieces are proffered with the tender intimacy of a mother’s lullaby.

Comments from the Stars

Our performances with guest stars have always been moving experiences. No matter how they may feel when they first join us, by the time they leave we are fast friends. After her final performance, Angela Lansbury was asked if she felt the Choir belonged to her. “No,” she replied, “I feel like I belong to them.” That feeling is captured on the recording with her laugh of delight and her applauding of the Choir and Orchestra at the end of “We Need a Little Christmas.”

Angela Lansbury was our guest in 2001.

When Audra McDonald was asked how she felt about performing with us, she said, “The generosity has been overwhelming. I’ve never been so well treated in my life. It’s just such a warm, good feeling that the Choir gives — and that’s all secondary to the music. Thank you for the incredible welcome!” That warmth is reflected in her performances of the African-American spiritual “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” and “Sweet Little Jesus Boy.”

Audra McDonald joined us in 2004.

RenéeFleming was our guest last year. She described how she knew in advance what her experience would be like by talking with Bryn Terfel (guest performer in 2003). “I sang with Bryn not too long ago,” she said. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘I just want you to know you’re going to have a fantastic time in Utah. You have to do it; they’re such fabulous people!’” Their experiences (and that of Ms. von Stade) are echoed in their joyful performances of Mack Wilberg’s arrangements.

Renée Fleming already knew from talking with Bryn Terfel that she was going to have a fantastic time!

Temple Square’s Own Stars

But Temple Square has its own share of stars, and no Christmas concert would be complete without an appearance from its newest performing group “The Bells on Temple Square.” And what better setting for the clear, pure sounds of glistening hand bells than Barlow Bradford’s scintillating arrangement of “Carol of the Bells?”

Our own stars include the magnificent Bells on Temple Square.

The bells have also played a central part in what has become another grand tradition – the opening of the concerts with a majestic Christmas processional. “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” composed by Mack Wilberg to a text by David Warner, opened the 2005 concerts.

And speaking of Temple Square’s own stars, Tabernacle Organist Richard Elliott’s show stopping virtuoso performance of the French carol “Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella” is one of the highlights of this album.

Whether at the Tabernacle or Conference Center organ, Richard Elliott is always an amazing performer.

Also featured is a nod to the past, with performances of three well known Arthur Harris arrangements from the classic Columbia Masterworks album, “White Christmas,” which was released in 1977. These include the title track “White Christmas,” Leroy Anderson’s delightful “Sleigh Ride,” and “Winter Wonderland.”

These enthusiastic young dancers were part of the Christmas processional.

And most appropriately, the disk concludes with what is surely the most beloved musical tribute of all to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: George Frideric Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah. Famous newscaster Walter Cronkite joined us for the 2002 concert. In addition to his wonderful narration, he took up the baton to conduct a performance of this time-honored masterpiece. Though this particular track is not taken from that event, it nevertheless recalls the fun and excitement we enjoyed with Mr. Cronkite at the conductor’s podium.

In 2002, Walter Cronkite took the conductor’s podium to lead Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Following in the Choir’s Honored Christmas Tradition

“The Wonder of Christmas” is a marvelous addition to the classic Christmas albums that have come from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir over the years. Although these songs are taken from live performances which precludes the finely-tuned polish of those that are produced in recording sessions, the electricity generated in performing before the massive audiences of 21,000 in the Conference Center more than makes up for that difference.

If you do an Internet search on the phrase “like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,” you will find hundreds of entries where someone has used the Choir in a comparison, a simile, or a metaphor. Expressions such as, “To the delight of the prosecutor, he sang better than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir” or “one resident commented that the carolers sounded just like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir” or “I remember seeing a great fireworks show and hearing heavenly music like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir hitting a major chord” show how the Choir has achieved such a universal reputation as to have become one of those common standards to which other things are compared.

“The Wonder of Christmas” demonstrates how that reputation is as deserved today as it has been throughout the history of the Choir. Indeed, the addition of the superb Orchestra at Temple Square and Bells on Temple Square along with a continual emphasis on ever higher performance standards makes it perhaps even more deserved now than ever. How wonderful it would be if the sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir “singing with the stars” could be heard in every home this Christmas season, thus helping a whole new generation to understand why – especially when it comes to Christmas recordings – the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has become a household name!