Tabernacle Choir broadcast marking 80 years

Sunday's 30-minute broadcast will begin as it has the past 80 years — the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's opening of "Gently Raise the Sacred Strain" leading into a voice-over of "From the crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a program of inspirational music and spoken word."

So starts the ninth decade of "Music and the Spoken Word," the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly live broadcast and the world's longest running nationwide network program.

The first network radio broadcast on July 15, 1929, featured a single microphone hanging from the Salt Lake Tabernacle's ceiling, an engineer receiving his starting "on air" signal by telegraph, and the announcer perching himself on a tall ladder for a half-hour to speak into the hanging mike.

Program milestones have snowballed since for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' iconic choir and its signature show, with the Bonneville Communications-produced "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast by more than 2,000 radio, television, cable and satellite stations as well as the Internet.

"For many people, it is one of those few anchors they can come to every week," said choir music director Mack Wilberg. "And for some people, it has been that for an entire lifetime."

Added choir President Mac Christensen: "When you listen to 'Music and the Spoken Word' — even rehearsals — it's like Christmas. It's like opening presents. It doesn't get any better."

With a fine line separating continuity and stagnancy, the goal for "Music and the Spoken Word" is a harmony between tradition and vibrancy.

"I think of that every Sunday — that we stand on the shoulders of all those who have come before us," said Wilberg, the former associate to music director Craig Jessop who took over after Jessop's departure last year.

"We want to be true to the legacy and heritage of 'Music and the Spoken Word' because it is loved and recognized by so many people," said Lloyd D. Newell, the program's voice since 1990, following the late Richard L. Evans and J. Spencer Kinard. "People want sameness, but they also want freshness."

The obvious addition over the past decade is the Orchestra at Temple Square, which now performs most Sundays a month. Other subtle amendments deal with the "spoken word" — they're shorter, often anecdote-driven, with accompanying visuals or on-location video clips for televised broadcasts.