Musical memories come alive on July 24

My memories of July 24th are always memories of music.

When I was 6, my mother would bundle up the kids and take us to Ogden to hear dad sing in "All Faces West." He was the Indian Chief. Igor Gorin, an imported opera star, played Brigham Young. My dad sang his heart out. After one performance, Gorin said to him, "What's a set of pipes like that doing on a farm boy like you?"

My dad took it as high praise.

In high school, I took the Box Elder County dairy princess down to see the musical "Promised Valley." Not long ago, I saw her for the first time in almost 40 years. I asked if she remembered the time I whisked her away to "Promised Valley."

I could read the question in her eyes: "Which valley?"

Since then, I've enjoyed Michael McLean's contribution to the pioneer songbook, and I always get a feeling inside like angel food cake whenever the Tabernacle Choir sings "Come, Come Ye Saints."

And there will always be a spot in my heart for the hymn, "They, the Builders of a Nation."

In a way, it seems to me that as I've grown deeper and broader as a person, the music surrounding the 24th of July has deepened and broadened as well.

Now come three aging masters with a new look at the Mormon pioneers that feels as deep and broad as the Mississippi. In "The Mormon Pioneer Saga," poet Ed Hart (now in his 90s) and composer Robert Cundick (age 80) have wed their work to the dance moves of the late choreographer Virginia Tanner in a short, but gripping, retelling of the pioneer trek. A booklet with photographs and background material is included. The disc itself is one of those newfangled things. On one side it is a CD filled with music. Flip it over and it's a DVD filled with dancing. Be forewarned, however. This is not "some must push and some must pull." Hart's poetry can be dense and tricky at times. And Cundick's music is often more about mood than melody. It moves through passages of dark longing, only to burst into moments of power and light, like shafts of sunlight through the clouds.

But the rewards are there for those who study it out in their minds and have ears to hear.

Unlike pop tunes that grow less interesting the more you hear them, "The Mormon Pioneer Saga" grows richer and stronger the more attention you give it. It's not long. I can listen to the whole thing while driving from Salt Lake City to Bountiful. And it's not cheap. It's $24.95. I'm just saying it's worth it.

But then I must admit to a major bias here. I like the fact that more than the original pioneers are being remembered; Hart, Cundick and Tanner are being remembered as well.

As I look back at all the music that has flowed into my life from Pioneer Days, in fact, I see each composer as a pioneer of sorts — pushing into new frontiers of sound and feeling. From William Clayton, down through Rolland Parry, Michael McLean and the trio behind "The Mormon Pioneer Saga," they will always be "blessed, honored pioneers."

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E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com