Music and the Spoken Word & the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

                Being able to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir preform for their Christmas concert was an amazing experience. Jane Seymour and Nathan Gunn were wonderful additions to the already amazing talents of the choir. When Miss Seymour was narrating, she brought the right emotion to the words and phrases and with Mr. Gunn’s singing you could tell that he paid particular and close attention to the words he was using.

                One of my favorite songs that the choir preformed with Mr. Gunn was “T’was the Night Before Christmas” by Ken Darby. Gunn preformed with the right infliction on each word, his baritone voice rising and falling in conjunction with the phrase.

                But my real and absolute favorite part of the concert was the performance of “Good King Wenceslas.” The transition between story and song was just so amazing and simply laid. Seymour’s narrative was wonderful, you could tell that she was into the tale and she understood the meaning and reason behind it. The choir was tender with words and the dancers expressed the ideals and imagery of the story so well. The fluttering of fake snow helped a lot too when it came to setting the scene.

                The band and orchestra also did a great job. All parts were balanced: instruments could be heard and weren’t drowned out while at the same time the vocals were never overpowered. Everyone kept perfect time, stayed together, lines were not forgotten, and you could hear the conviction of the stories could be heard with every note.