By Laurie Williams Sowby
Two recent releases by the Tabernacle Choir – Requiem and Called to Serve – are about as different from each other as possible, yet the two demonstrate the choir’s vast range. Although both were recorded under Craig Jessop’s baton, it’s fitting that both also showcase the composing and arranging talents of newly announced choir director Mack Wilberg. The Orchestra at Temple Square is also an important and integral part of the music on these two CDs.
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Requiem offers English and Latin texts in both singing by the choir and solos by Frederica von Stade, soprano, and Bryn Terfel, baritone, who have appeared with the choir in its Christmas concerts. Written in the tradition of 20th-century composers, “Requiem” came about as an extension of Wilberg’s additional compositions for a 2006 high school choral festival in Carnegie Hall, which Jessop was conducting. Appropriately, it was released just before the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley.
The work expresses grief in death, hope in life, and comfort in the Resurrection through textures and harmonies less familiar to the LDS musical experience. It’s hard not to picture yourself in a vaulted cathedral as you listen. “Requiem” premiered as part of the concert series celebrating the opening of the renovated Salt Lake Tabernacle last year.
Five other appropriate shorter works by Wilberg fill out the CD, employing traditional texts. “O Light of Life” and “Jesu, the Very Thought is Sweet,” feature lilting melodies, while “Let Peace Then Still the Strife” ends the album with an appropriate plea. The liner notes add much to the understanding of the pieces.
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Called to Serve has as its theme sharing the gospel. It’s the Tabernacle Choir’s 14th release on its own label; you have to wonder what took so long! The music is appropriate not only for missionaries, but has broad appeal for anyone who needs encouragement in building the kingdom.
Although many of the 15 selections have appeared on previous CDs by the Tabernacle Choir, there are also four wonderful new Wilberg arrangements never before recorded by the choir: “He Sent His Son,” “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go,” “Ye Elders of Israel” (featuring just the men) and the title cut, “Called to Serve,” which begins the album.
“The Spirit of God” ends it. In between are well-loved favorites such as. “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus,” “I Believe in Christ,” “High on the Mountain Top,” and a reverent rendition of “I Know that My Redeemer Lives,” all with Wilberg’s trademark orchestrations that add so much to the melodies. “Called to Serve,” guaranteed to uplift and bring the missionary spirit, belongs in everyone’s collection of Tabernacle Choir recordings. It’s us.
