mike and ruth

We have very much enjoyed having Devin’s family stay with us the past week and look forward to the coming week together. Hopefully we will be able to find things to do together that will be the kind of activity that the kids enjoy and will have fun participating in. The warmer weather this coming week should make this a possibility. We had a good time visiting each other, especially when the children were finally asleep.
Devin is talking about a kind or reunion or retreat to a place in St. Anthony ID where we would meet for a few days and have games, movies, readings, family history discussions, and other such activities together with our family and Emily’s family. It sounds like a great time and if it is decided that we will do this, I hope everyone can find some time to come. I realize that work and school are very important, but we won’t have this kind of opportunity to meet all together in one place very often, even if it is 4 or 5 hours away by car.

After the Sunday morning broadcast we had a mini-concert with our soloist, Natalie Cole, and the Children’s Choirs, the Bells at Temple Square, the dancers from the University, and the Orchestra at Temple Square. It was very fulfilling. We were given the opportunity to see one of the pieces we sang that had extensive choreography from the perspective of the audience. The technicians played back our recording of the music and the dancers performed their part for the choirs, bell ringers, and orchestra. The view of the stage is nothing less than spectacular but the stage looks tiny when compared to our view, which is right next to the stage. What a memorable production! Rick Elliott’s arrangement stole the show again, a version of the Christmas hymn, “We Three Kings of Orient, Are” superimposed over several dances from “The Nutcracker”.

Last weekend I had a very unique experience: the opportunity to participate in a pair of live performances of the Mahler 2nd Symphony in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. This very large work has become known as the “Resurrection Symphony” because of Mahler’s own text which he used in the choral parts of the last movement. This was this year’s program for the “Gift of Music” presented to the community by O.C. Tanner Company, featuring the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Returning as a guest conductor was the recently-emeritus conductor of the Utah Symphony, Keith Lockhart. I am a member of the choir and our seats were among the best in the house as the Symphony performed the first four movements without us, and used only one of the two soloists. The last movement was saved for both soloists and the choir. The dynamics of the piece go from both extremes, extremely soft to extremely loud. There are extras in every section. Here is what the score calls for: 4 Flutes (all four doubling Piccolos); 4 Oboes (3rd and 4th oboe doubling English Horns); 3 Clarinets in B-flat, A, C (3rd clarinet doubling Bass Clarinet), 2 E-flat Clarinets (2nd E-flat clarinet doubling 4th clarinet); 4 Bassoons (3rd and 4th Bassoon doubling Contra bassoon); 10 Horns in F, four used offstage until the last movement; 8-10 Trumpets in F and C, four to six used offstage; 4 Trombones and Tuba; A total of seven percussion players playing on the following instruments: Timpani (2 players and 8 timpani, with a third player in the last movement using two of the second timpanist’s drums), Several Snare Drums, Bass Drum, Crash Cymbals, Triangle, Glockenspiel, 3 deep, untuned steel rods or bells, Rute, or “switch”, to be played on the shell of the bass drum, 2 Tam-tams or Gongs (high and low), and offstage percussion in Movement 5; and “the largest possible contingent of strings”. These together with the 350-voice choir and two soloists, made for an ensemble approaching 500 for the performance. It was stunning to say the least. I am grateful I was able to be a participant.

Grandpa came to the Thursday evening rehearsal as a guest of his three sons who are members, and was a participant during the rehearsal as one of the choir members. This privilege is offered only very sparingly to persons acquainted with choir members, with strict guidelines. [Grandpa joined the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir in 1947 at the age of 17, and sang with the choir over a period of 41 years. Part of that time he was serving in other positions that kept him from active participation with the choir. He encouraged Grandma to audition, and they were both choir members before they were married. They became engaged between general conference sessions while participating as choir members. They were both participants in the choir when the famed recording of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra was made back in 1957, but Grandma decided to stay at home with the children shortly after Eric was born. They retired from active participation in the choir in 1988.] Grandpa was invited to sit with the basses, and Uncle Mark was seated next to him. It was an evening of patriotic music as the choir was preparing for the broadcast for Veterans Day. The final piece in the rehearsal was one which used a lot of organ, unlike everything else, which was accompanied by the orchestra. Grandpa really loves the organ and was thrilled to hear it. Happy 80th Birthday!

Richard Elliott gave an amazing recital tonight at the Salt Lake City Tabernacle on the 207 rank Aeolean Skinner organ installed in that building in 1948. This was a remarkable study of contrasts including music from the time of Sweelinck to middle 20th Century. Grandpa and I were fotunate to arrive early enough to find seats on the front row of the east balcony, a location we consider to be the best in the house. Not only was the music memorable but the visual effects provided by the lighting technicians was unique and quite spectacular. The organ sounded superb, reflecting careful work by the organ technicians. Congratulations to Rick and his colleagues for an absolutely first-rate performance in every regard. In recent weeks a newly-issued recording of the organ was presented to me by Richard Elliott. The recording was made in November 2004, about a month before the Tabernacle was closed for rennovation for over two years. I was invited by the organist to assist, and turned pages at the console for several pieces during the recording sessions. What an honor this was, and I was pleased to be asked also to help in the studio when not turning pages. This new album is a treat; the first new CD of the organ in many years. I believe Clay Christiansen’s Klavier CD was the latest, released in the late 1990’s. That makes this one the first organ solo CD released from the Tabernacle Organ in more than ten years. It’s about time! Ask me anything you like about it.

The leaves are now brown and red and yellow, and the temperatues are getting cooler as the days and weeks move towards the end of the year. I took this photo after work, with the moon still showing in the mist of the early morning sun above the reds and yellows of the trees around our building. It was cool, quiet, and beautiful. Word has it that snow is not too far away again. Our last major snowfall was April 17, and I will add a photo to this post later on to show you what it looked like.

Dad will celebrate his 80th birthday next week! Here is a photo of Mom and Dad taken on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary. He has taken very good care of her over the years and provided well for his large family. I remember when he was working two full-time jobs (at the same time) to bring in enough income to feed and clothe us, and pay for piano lessons and other “extras” for everyone. He sometimes slept only a few hours and then had to get up and have Mom point him in the direction of his next responsibility so he would get there. Dad auditioned and was accepted into the Tabernacle Choir at age 17 and has always loved singing. He has a special place in his heart for the Tabernacle Choir and for the Tabernacle Organ. He persuaded Mom to audition for the choir the next spring, and they were both members of the choir when they became engaged during October Conference 1948 between sessions of conference. They were married that winter (1949) in the Salt Lake Temple on a snowy morning. His father’s car was a ragtop, and Dad says they had to brush the snow off of their laps when they drove to the temple. Happy Birthday Dad and Grandpa!

The Orchestra at Temple Square is performing two concerts this weekend with Igor Grupmann, Music Director conducting. Works to be presented in the concerts include Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor), Wagner’s “Vorspiel und Liebestod” from Tristan and Isolde, and Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. They present three or four concerts each year on their own in addition to accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir almost every weekend for television and radio broadcasts of “Music and the Spoken Word”. The orchestra is comprised of about 75 talented and expertly-trained instrumental musicians from the Salt Lake City area. They have been performing together now for 10 years and have made a large contribution to the musical experiences available in Salt Lake City.

The Utah Valley Symphony opened their 51st concert season last week at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, UT. This local community orchestra is directed by Dr. Bryce Rytting and has become a staple of community fine arts offerings for the area. To celebrate the 51st season the orchestra is playing new music which has never been programmed before. There are still a few of the founding members of the orchestra who play in current concerts. Their concerts present orchestra classics and pops in a beautiful setting that are well-prepared and performed by volunteers in the best tradition of musical excellence, performing for the love of the music and of performing it. More information including performance dates, music on each program, and other items of interest, is available online at http://utahvalleysymphony.org