Ward Choirs

I was recently speaking to a friend who is in another congregation across the country who is the ward choir director there. It's too bad we don't live closer since I'm the ward choir accompanist in my own congregation. It would be super fun to work together. He mentioned choir practice attendance issues and it made me think about the dilemma of LDS ward choirs. The first challenge I think is that everyone is a volunteer, the director, the accompanist, and all the members. This means that everyone has lots of other things that take up their time. In every congregation I've ever attended choir practice is held on Sunday either before or after the 3 hour block of meetings. (That's right for my non-Mormon friends,we go to church for 3 hours every Sunday!)
Meeting before the meetings usually leaves the non-choir spouse with the task of getting the rest of the family ready for church. It also tends to mean waking earlier than you'd like on a weekend. Meeting after the meetings means that the meal you hoped to eat after sitting through 3 hours of church will have to wait another hour or so and usually requires that the non-choir spouse takes the rest of the family home and feeds them. There doesn't seem to be another really good solution since weeknights are usually chock full of business for the family and squeezing in one other thing might be asking a lot. Call me crazy but my favorite time to schedule something that no one has time for is on Saturday mornings around 7am. Unless you are on vacation or moving that time slot is probably empty, except for the aforementioned sleeping in on weekends.

Another challenge for volunteer choirs where anyone may participate is finding appropriate music. By this I mean two kinds of appropriate. First if you have a choir full of people who don't read music and aren't very confident about singing you have to choose different music than you might for a choir full of professors of music and composers. I have always found the good old hymnal is a nice place to start. One of the stated purposes of a ward choir is to familiarize the congregation with lesser known hymns. When sung well the hymns can inspire and teach sermons of their own plus they are well within the capabilities of any ward choir. Other arrangements of hymns or other appropriate music is also great. Some religious music is beautiful but altogether inappropriate for LDS sacrament meetings. Let me say that what I think is over the line will differ from other faithful members of the church so to avoid contention, I'm just stating my opinion not anything from any handbook. Arrangements that have huge sort of TA-DA! endings make me cringe a little. Just because the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sounded so nice singing something doesn't mean it's ok for everyone everywhere. One example that sticks out to me is "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" it's lovely but much too big for church. Also most of the choruses from Handel's Messiah are a little showy in style to be used for regular church services. Some arrangements for choir especially those composed in the past 25 years or so sound a little jazzy for church. We're just not that kind of church when it comes to music.

I've been singing in or playing for choirs since I was 12 years old, I'm not saying how many years that has been but it's a lot. In all that time I have acquired a few favorite choir numbers, music that I think is always lovely and usually appropriate.

I realize that I've been posting a lot about music lately but it's part of my church calling at the moment so it's what's on my mind a lot.

So here are some favorites.

* For the Beauty of the Earth, -John Rutter
* Offertory, - John Ness Beck
* The First Nowell, - Mack Wilberg
* My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, - Mack Wilberg
* The Lord Bless You and Keep You, - John Rutter
* Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, straight from the old hymnal
* Beautiful Savior, in the Choirbook

I'm sure that I have more those were just the first few that popped into my head.