The celebrated Mormon Tabernacle Choir hit No. 1 on Billboard's classical chart this week with its new CD "100 Years: Celebrating a Century of Recording Excellence."
To commemorate the milestone, the choir released its three-disc set earlier this month featuring new recordings along with some of the group's greatest hits: "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "Consider the Lilies."
One Amazon music reviewer called the choir's collection of songs an "extraordinary achievement." He was particularly pleased with the vintage footage.
"The real delight here, though, is the 'bonus' CD/DVD. It includes the first Telstar satellite broadcast from Mt. Rushmore in 1962, the Choir's first wax cylinder recording made back in 1910 (which sounds extraordinarily impressive!), and recordings made by each of the Choir's directors over the last 100 years: Evan Stevens, Anthony Lund, Spencer Cornwall, Richard Condie, Jerold Ottley, Craig Jessop, and Mack Willberg," he wrote.
On September 1, 1910, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir made its first recording "Let the Mountains Shout for Joy." Since then the American icon has recorded more than 175 albums, two have gone "platinum" and five have gone "gold." In 1959, the choir garnered a prestigious Grammy award for "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
The famed group has been recording music longer than any other artist in the country. The Vienna Boys Choir made its first recording in 1905 and is the only other artist in the world with a longer recording history.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is an all-volunteer, 360-member group accompanied by a 100-piece orchestra. Music and the Spoken Word, the choir's weekly program which first aired in 1929, is broadcast on more than 2,000 television, radio, and cable television stations throughout the country.
In the video below, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs its show-stopping hit "Betelehemu," a Nigerian folk song.
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For more information about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir visit MormonTabernacleChoir.org.
Comments
I was at west ridge academy in utah. Their performance was amazing. I loved it. It was very calming and relaxing.
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