Mormon choir will sing at Trump’s inauguration

Mormon choir will sing at Trump’s inauguration

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norman lebrecht

December 23, 2016

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has posted this:

At the request of the U. S. Presidential Inauguration Committee, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has accepted an invitation to sing at the swearing-in ceremony during the presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol next month in Washington, D.C.

On January 20, 2017, the Choir will perform during the inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Michael R. Pence.

This performance will mark the sixth time the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has sung at an inauguration. These inaugural events include the official swearing-in ceremonies for George H. W. Bush (1989), Richard M. Nixon (1969), and Lyndon B. Johnson (1965). They performed in inaugural parades for George W. Bush (2001), George H. W. Bush (1989), and Ronald W. Reagan (1981).

“The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a great tradition of performing at the inaugurals of U. S. presidents,” said Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “Singing the music of America is one of the things we do best. We are honored to be able to serve our country by providing music for the inauguration of our next president.”

A protest campaign is gathering here. 

Comments

  • V.Lind says:

    Also the Rockettes. Long way from Robert Frost or Maya Angelou.

    What a pity Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton don’t DO anything.

  • Herr Doktor says:

    More reason not to ever listen to this vastly overrated group. How is it that the choir has a positive reputation? They’re nearly lifeless. Perfect for President Orange–all surface, no substance.

    • Herr Doktor says:

      I apologize, I need to re-state my thoughts. Shame on me for equating the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with President Orange. He is far from lacking in substance, unfortunately–he has plenty of it, and all of it is toxic and destructive.

      The MTC is just boring and harmless.

      The only honor in this whole story is that even in the LDS world, people are rebelling against any normalization of President Orange.

      The majority of us in the U.S. (and we are the majority!) will never accept this stolen election and subversion of democracy.

      • Cubs Fan says:

        When are you on the left going to get over it? Trump won – fair and square. It was not a stolen election. He won using the Electoral College system which is how our elections are set up – like it or not. Just because your dishonest candidate Clinton lost doesn’t mean the election was stolen.

        The MTC is a fine musical ensemble and they have been for a long time. They’ve made many fine recordings and not just of religious material: they were a favorite of Eugene Ormandy’s for providing the sound he wanted. They’ve made many excellent recordings of the symphonies of Mahler, the Verdi Requiem, and even sound tracks – like Ben Hur. There is NO church of any variety in the US that can boast having an ensemble of this caliber. You sir, are just a hater without substance. You hide behind your internet moniker and throw out stupid, rude comments with little basis in fact. Take a trip to Salt Lake and give them a listen – maybe even a hateful liberal like yourself will be moved. Or go to a Utah Symphony concert when they do Mahler 2 and you will be humbled. I am not LDS but your smarmy comments about the MTC are uncalled for.

        • Urs Liska says:

          “Trump won – fair and square”. How can anyone still write this today? I don’t want to refer to the still not perfectly clarified issue of potential Russian intervention, or the fact that Republicans are much better and more ruthless at all sorts of rigging like gerrymandering etc.
          But now that slowly the dimensions of the FBI/email stunt come to light you can’t talk of anything else than a “stolen election”.

          • Urs Liska says:

            One thing I forgot to mention which brings my comment somewhat back to the topic of this blog (and to my personal area of affection): uncovering the scandal about the illegitimate search of non-new emails (and especially the public announcement of it) is pursued not to the least part by Arnold Schoenberg’s grandson E. Randol Schoenberg.

        • Herr Doktor says:

          Cubs Fan:

          Trump did not win “fair and square.” It was a stolen election, period. Trump is illegitimate and the Republicans are behaving in ways that, frankly, some could consider to be treasonous (such as working with a foreign power, as Rudy Giuliani acknowledged initially although he changed his tune when he realized the implications of what he had admitted). I will not re-state what Urs Liska said above so eloquently. No amount of bluster from you will change these facts. And I hope you will look in the mirror very carefully and consider what you are saying. Were the sides switched and instead Hillary Clinton “won” with all these things having happened in reverse, the Republicans would be saying the complete opposite of everything you are saying now. We both know that.

          So let’s go back to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Unlike you, I have LIVED in Salt Lake City and heard the MTC over many years in many concerts live with my own ears. Whatever the ensemble may have been during the days of Eugene Ormandy etc., in today’s terms, they are not world-class or anything close to it. Orchestras and choirs are living organisms. The Berlin Philharmonic of today is a far cry from the superhuman orchestra of the Karajan years. And today’s MTC is exactly as I described them: boring and harmless. They lack passion. They lack genuine emotion. They are choral automatons. Perhaps you like that sort of thing. It’s not alive, vibrant music-making as I think most people consider these sorts of things.

          For whatever one may criticize Andre Rieu, you know, he and his orchestra play with real spirit and commitment. They DO make music–whether or not it’s music you care for, but in what they do, they are quite good, and I respect them. The same can not be said for the current incarnation of the MTC.

          I stand by every one of my comments.

          • jim says:

            Herr DR, Berlin Phil a far cry from their past level? There goes your last shred of credibility. In fact you might like Trump – you two are very similar. It sounds like to you, everything was better in the past and things are going downhill, whether in music or in “America”.

          • Sue says:

            “Stolen election”!! Absolutely priceless. We need a good festive season laugh.

            Listen up kid; it’s winner take all!!

          • Talking the talk says:

            Jim- your comment re HD’s comment on the Berlin Phil illustrates, your lack of credibility to begin with but we are all free to live with our delusions, especially so now in the good ol US of A.

          • Pianofortissimo says:

            If something was stolen, it was Bernie Sanders’ candidate position.

          • Petros Linardos says:

            Trump lost the popular vote by almost three million but won the electoral college. I believe he is unfit for office, that he a national disgrace, etc. etc., but his confirmation as the 45th president of the US has not violated the constitution.

        • Robert Holmén says:

          Except for the not-so-fair and not-quite-square part, it was indeed “fair and square.”

        • Sue says:

          The deplorables will shore up support for The Donald more than ever so the bleating, finger-wagging, name-calling, bigotry and bile from the losers will be counter-productive. They’re just not smart enough to understand that any excesses of The Donald will be kept in check by moderate Republicans, of which The Donald is not one of their number.

          When I think that Hillary Clinton with the most sleazy, philandering husband about which she did nothing had the hide to call middle America “deplorable”. In fact, it was one of her own projections.

          • Herr Doktor says:

            Dear “Sue”, “Jim”, “Cubs Fan” and whatever other such personas:

            Sorry, I’m not going to get into a tit-for-tat with you. The fact is, the election was stolen and Trump is illegitimate. Nothing you say or scream from the rafters will change those facts, and as time goes on and more becomes known, more people will come to these same conclusions. And let’s not forget, the MAJORITY voted for Hillary Clinton, not for the con man.

            Trump is little more than a 21st century grifter. He and the Republicans will not build anything except for massive corruption on a scale we have never seen before in this country, they will only destroy. They will destroy international stability, they will destroy the long-term growth capacity of the U.S. economy, they will destroy the checks and balances that exist, they will destroy the social safety net of the country, and they will greatly damage the social fabric of the country. They will build nothing. If you think these are good things, then you will have a wonderful next four years. But for the rest of us who care about more than our own existences, these next four years will be ugly.

            Be sure, however, that in the end, the Trump and his fellow charlatans will be exposed for what they truly are, but after much damage is done. Eventually those who thought they were going to make American Great Again with this vile con man will find they are little more than the latest “graduates” of Trump University. I will never lose my health insurance, but Trump’s conned working-class white fools will. And the rest of us will pick up the pieces and try and undo the massive damage Trump will have inflicted.

            And I’m done responding to anything you say. Good bye. I hope I’m wrong.

            That’s all I have to say, and I am done saying it. I have no interest in any further exchanges with you–I’m not sure you’re even real people or if you would know Beethoven from Mahler for what it’s worth. Just know for a fact that WE THE MAJORITY know the truth, and that we will endure this period of darkness. If you are too dense to see what’s coming, then by all means enjoy your classes at Trump University Part 2.

          • John says:

            If for a moment I thought Trump would not turn this historic and solemn civic event into just another gloating and self-serving victory lap to glorify you-know-who, I might consider watching it. But with the Rockettes doing their fireworks, sparklers and sex pizazz and President Orange Hitler doing his best Alec Baldwin imitation, I think I’ll skip it this time.

    • CDH says:

      They’re not known as the Moron Tabbies for nothing! And now you think about it, what a perfect sobriquet for Drumpf.

      [What is all this “you are posting too fast” stuff? In fact this one was slowed by my having to verify the original spelling it Its name].

    • Edgar Brenninkmeyer says:

      Does the MTC master Russian repertoire, singing in Russian and perhaps even Church Slavonic? That would certainly bring a nice accent to the coronation spectacle 😉

  • Justin says:

    I will be throwing out all my Mormon Tabernacle Choir records!

    Oh wait, which records?

    • jim says:

      How is that supposed to be a “burn”? They have hundreds of records. Are you saying you don’t own them? Please explain.

  • Olassus says:

    Ah, prestige!

  • Greg Hlatky says:

    Are they, too, now to be blacklisted? Go get ’em, Tiger! Grrrrr!

  • Mikey says:

    meh, it’s the Mormon Choir, Tabarnaque.

  • I.Kennaway says:

    How apt! Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.

  • Holly Golightly says:

    @ Herr Doktor. You need one yourself!!

    If there’s one line that sums up the 21st-century political elite, it’s ‘You Can’t Say That!’. From immigration to multiculturalism, climate change to the EU, the response of the political class to awkward questioning is always: ‘Stop, you can’t say that.’ They have an armoury of libels to deploy against people who think and say the ‘wrong’ things. Question eco-orthodoxy, and you’re a climate-change denier. Wonder if immigration should be done differently, and you’re racist. Oppose the EU, you’re Europhobic. The aim is to shush through shame. To stifle certain kinds of public opinion. All to the end of protecting status-quo thought, of erecting a deflective shield around the low horizons, moral relativism and turn to technocracy that define modern Western elites.

    • Herr Doktor says:

      Dear Holly,

      You make all kinds of assumptions that have no bearing on who I am or what I believe. I’ll allow you your illusions.

      But since you believe I need to show flexibility in my thinking (which is otherwise lacking), allow me to demonstrate it to you:

      I want to grab you by the pussy and start kissing you. And you know, it’s fair game, because we all need to stop being so politically correct.

      Maybe after we get through that, we can then have a productive discussion.

      Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!

  • Gerald Martin says:

    The Philadelphia Orchestra played the 1812 Overture at the second inaugural concert for President Nixon in January 1973. The Republic will survive the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

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