My mother has a number of their recordings, and she was listening to one today and I couldn't help noticing that they just aren't that good. I'd always heard (from other Mormons) that they were one of the finest choirs in the world, and they just aren't. The organ sounds a bit pinched too. It sounds like my electric razor. The material isn't that interesting, either.

Just wondered if anyone else has noticed this.

I don't listen. The music gives me horrible flashbacks.
Hahahhahaha

Hi Makie.

Once a person hears /listens to a REALLY good choir and it sinks in, from then on every time the MORmON Tabernacle choir is heard, it is a reminder that MORmON Tabernacle choir really is not very good. When I hear a really sharp crisp (enjoyable) choral performance, the first thoughts that come to my mind is: That sounds good! That is NOT MoTab!!!

Well, I rarely think of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at all. I didn't realize that's who it was at first. I just noticed a lot of old lady warbling and suddenly remembered I hadn't shaved this morning. I'm no expert on choirs, but you're right -- a "sharp crisp (enjoyable) choral performance" they are not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2016 02:02PM by Makurosu.

Whenever I have the misfortune of listening to them, it seems as if they lack any kind of nuance. They just belt out the tunes as if they all in competition with each other, rather than singing together as one body.

And I firmly agree their material is just awful.

They do seem really gung-ho!

Boy do they! I remember once waiting in a doctors office for my appointment. In another room was a member of the choir. She was doing drills and singing at the top of her lungs. GEEZ! The staff was so embarrassed and kept apologizing for her thoughtless behavior.

BTW, how are you doing? Don't see you around these parts much. I bet your little man is all grown up!

I'm doing well. My son is 12 now. I'm tired of the whole Mormon/ex-Mormon thing, so I don't spend much time on it anymore. I just thought it was funny how unremarkable that choir is and wondered why that hadn't dawned on me before now. :) I mean, I never liked them, but now I know why. I like choral music too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2016 02:07PM by Makurosu.

This was touched upon before Xmess in a few posts about Handel's Messiah. Until YouTube, I was only aware of one version, featuring the MoTab, with the Philadelphia Symphony orchestra. I was listening to that before I could drive, so that over 55 years ago. I love all of it, except for the lugubrious final 'Amen' chorus. I've found a number of them that are better, in my opinion, than the one I grew up with.

One outstanding version has a choir of just 36 boys and men, with the pre-pubescent boys handling the soprano line. Bigger is not better.

Also, as exmos, we become predisposed to dislike mormon things. But in the case of the MoTab, there are negatives that do rightfully attach, like 'overblown' and 'stodgy'...

I heard an excellent musician refer to it as "a wall of sound". When you have a choir that large, there is no subtlety, no way for true dynamics that you could get with a smaller choir. No doubt there are good voices in there, but you don't get to enjoy them. Isn't that just the Mormon way, though? How many temples are there, how many members are there, how many missions, how many missionaries? The bigger the numbers, the more impressive. How male to be obsessed with measurements...but an all male leadership, there ya go.

I've always hated MoTab. I detest the sound of a pipe organ, no matter who is wheezing it out.

My dad used to tune that organ in the old dome. I'd have to sit there with my finger on the key until he got it tuned.

Blech.

Only fun bit was he used the underground tunnels all the time. There is (as of 1983, last time I saw it) an entire wood working shop directly under the grass in front of the visitors center glass Jesus statue between the sales center and the Legion Of Doom dome.

One trouble is that the choir sings the same songs over and over and over and over and over. they need some talented people to write or adapt some new scores or resurrect some old english carols, things by Vaughn Williams or Thomas Tallis and other talented composers.

Years ago, there was a directive from the 12 fossils that no music could be sung or played in the church unless from the approved LDS song book. I wonder if there are similar restrictions on the Choir. I'll bet you they're not able to sing just any choral music out there.

I've seen several productions of "Mo Tab"... Each director handles that huge choir (360 members) a little differently, of course.
They sing a large variety of music, probably close to 30 to 50 pieces in their repertoire, from many different composers, depending on the Event. They do a lot of concerts. Only a portion are LDS hymns.
Members can serve for 20 years, or up to age 60. They have auditions from time to time. It's a huge commitment.

Yes, at one time all music in Sacrament must be from the LDS Hymnal. I hear that has changed.

I like some arrangements better than others.

Used to enjoy listening to them more as a TBM.

Now they just sound bland and devoid of any real feeling or warmth. It's almost like listening to zombies, if they tried any harder they might stop breathing.

Listening to them sing makes me want to fall asleep instead of feeling energized.

It's weird... The size of the MoTab was mandated by the size of the choir box in the tabernacle.

Listen to this piece on surround sound if you have it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyFkPd6fEuI

This is a choir.

That was a good choir. I have their Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil, Op.37 "Vespers." Just otherworldly good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2NSfTXjEPI



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2016 05:49PM by Makurosu.

Thanks! I spent a couple hours early this morning listening to this REAL choir. Some of it actually made me cry. True musical talent!

Their harmonies are muddy and their diction is atrocious (unless one knows the words to a song already, it's impossible to understand what they are singing).

There are much better choirs, IMO. MoTab's distinction apparently seems to be its size and overall fame for many years.

Certainly, numerous well known musicians (e.g., Bryn Terfel, Rene Fleming) have appeared with the choir (for a nice hunk of change, I presume). So, I guess for enough money great artists will overcome any reluctance to sing with a choir that has so many obvious flaws.

Pay attention to this in future: whenever TSCC, or a member of TSCC, or a business or charity related to the TSCC, talks about Mo Tab to members or non-members, they will always use the very same standard phrase: "the WORLD FAMOUS Mormon Tabernacle Choir". Never ever ever will they call it excellent, outstanding, reputable or anything else that implies quality. Just their fame.

Mo Tab is famous like a Kardashian is famous. They are a celebrity, not a personality or an authority.

I've never been able to listen to them for very long. I was never impressed even when I was a TBM. I thought it was just me.

When I first left, it gave me repulsive flashbacks to moronism to hear them for even a couple of seconds. Now I am not so repulsed by them but still can't stand to listen for very long.

I love music. But the Mo Tabs just don't seem like music to me.

There are many wonderful choirs of humble and smaller means who collectively produce inspiring sounds.
The MoTab is just a blanket mass wall of sound that lacks the unique qualities of interpretation and emphasis that make so many others stand out.

Russian Orthodox Choir, Sacred Russian singing Chesnokov's "Gabriel Appeared" Eternal Counsel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzK5YEVMHn4

With a choir that large, "crisp" is literally impossible. Pretty much anywhere you sit in the audience, the sound from one part of the choir will reach your ear before another part. A battleship simply can't perform like a ski boat.

The goal of the choir is to appear imposing. Same is true of the Main Street Plaza with those big square pillars at the entrances, and the Conference Center. They wanted to look massive and unstoppable. Much like a battleship, actually. Musicality was a secondary concern.

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> With a choir that large, "crisp" is literally
> impossible.

Maybe / probably so, and even so, its amazing how much closer to crisp that other choirs manage to get compared to MoTab.

I once had an album titled "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Greatest Hits." At the time, I thought it was a sign they were breaking out of their stodgy mold. I think they included some folk songs or something.

But now it seems like a silly way for them to try to broaden their appeal & as a result fatten the church's wallet.

The problem with the choir is the shear amount of mediocre singers it has. My older sister is a backup in the choir (all seats must be filled).

Her voice sounds like she is sitting on an off balances washing-machine. The only thing she has is volume and lots of it.

Reminds me of my dad's tall tale about singing in his ward choir.

One week he had a sore throat and couldn't perform with the choir on Sunday, so he sat in the pews.

Nearby, an old lady leaned over to her friend and said, "I'm so glad they finally fixed the organ!"

You no longer hear them through "spiritual ears." You know, ones biased by "everything mormon is the best!"

Once you stop doing that, you notice that the choir is, well, just mediocre. Without the indoctrinated self-delusion that they're the best because they're mormon, the magic is gone -- and you realize there never was any magic to begin with, you just imagined it. :)

LOL!!

Mak! I had to check the date on your post to make sure it was really you. (Lotsa folks resurrecting ancient threads here lately). Welcome back - we hope! Luv your sense of humor.

Yes, MoTab choir sucks.

;o)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2016 01:54PM by shannon.

Isn't the quality of everything in Mormonism slipping? Because of their absurd beliefs and gross mismanagement they can no longer retain their brightest and best. Pretty soon the MoTab choir will be stocked with clingy tone-deaf yowlers who are happy to belong to a social club.

Or is that already the case?

Old. Tired. Pastel. Plastic.

I'd love to read a book that detailed all of the scandals surrounding the choir. Must be hundreds of stories involving sex, lies and video tape...