In the book, Swinton tells the story of the choir — not only its history, but also its travels, its achievements, its impact — through song titles. "Simple Gifts," "The Morning Breaks," "Gently Raise the Sacred Strain," "God Be With You Till We Meet Again," all take on added significance in the context of the choir's story. The documentary has music in it; the companion CD, which contains some of the choir's signature songs and all-time favorites, is all music. "But in the book" she says, "I had to create the music by putting more melody to the words."

She traces the history of the choir back to "a ragtag chorus of men, their faces and hands worn from the quick work of putting down roots in the desert," who gathered under the shade of a crude brush bowery just three weeks after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

She tells the story of Welsh converts who brought rich choral tradition to the making of music in the valley; of the early contributions of men such as George Careless and Ebeneezer Beesley and Evan Stephens, whose names are also remembered from early Mormon hymns; of the work of men such as J. Spencer Cornwall and Richard P. Condie and Jerold Ottley, who brought the choir to the world's stage.

And there's current choir director Craig Jessop. "To see the way he prepares the choir to do what they do, is remarkable," she says. Sitting in the choir loft and watching "how he communicates with everyone in the choir, seeing how much he pulls out of them, is amazing."

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is coming of age, says Swinton. "With Craig Jessop's leadership and Mack Wilberg's arrangements, they have elevated the music, elevated the way they communicate. With the orchestra and the choir school, they have added a whole new dimension." And it is one that the world recognizes. In the book, quotes from the likes of composer John Williams, newsman Walter Cronkite, Tanglewood Music Festival director Rafael Frubeck de Burgos and others are evidence of that. "What I admire about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the range of things they do," says Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. "They are for me the gold standard."

But some things have not changed, says Swinton. "The faces change, but the core spirit is the same. The sense that they are singing for God, that they are sharing God through music, has not changed."

The past directors, the past members have "all built upon each other," she adds. "They have only got where they are because of the people before them. And they recognize and honor that. I think that reverence for the past is one of the keys to their success. All that early music still hangs in the loft. You can feel it."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com