A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas (Remastered) Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square & Craig Jessop

• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Joy To The World:
• 1 Handel: Joy To The World 02:36
• Mykola Leontovych (1877 - 1921): Carol Of The Bells:
• 2 Leontovych: Carol Of The Bells 02:57
• John Jacob Niles (1892 - 1980): I Wonder as I Wander: I Wonder as I Wander:
• 3 Niles: I Wonder as I Wander: I Wonder as I Wander (Arr. B. Bradford) 03:46
• Traditional:
• 4 Traditional: Whence is that goodly fragrance - Arr. M. Wilberg: Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance? (Arr. M. Wilberg) 04:26
• 5 Traditional: Masters In This Hall 03:30
• 6 Traditional: The First Noel 04:45
• 7 Traditional: How Far Is It To Bethlehem? 03:48
• 8 Traditional: Pat-A-Pan 02:32
• 9 Traditional: What Shall We Give To The Babe In The Manger? 04:04
• 10 Traditional: One December Bright And Clear 01:53
• 11 Traditional: Fantasy On "What Child Is This?" 05:45
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): Hark! The Herald Angels Sing:
• 12 Mendelssohn: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 03:33
• John Jacob Niles: Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head
• 13 Niles: Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head 04:48
• Traditional:
• 14 Traditional: Angels From The Realms Of Glory 04:37
• 15 Traditional: Silent Night 03:19
• Total Runtime 56:19

Info for A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas (Remastered)

The 325-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir of Salt Lake is one of the best-known, best-loved musical organizations in the world. Here they perform superb new arrangements, by Associate Conductors Mack Wilberg and Barlow Bradford, of sixteen favorite carols, accompanied by the newly-formed Orchestra at Temple Square (heard here in their second recording ever), and conducted by the talented new Director of the Choir, Dr. Craig Jessop.

Included are new settings of such well-loved carols as “What Child Is This?,” “The First Noel,” “Joy to the World,” and a lovely a cappella rendition of “Silent Night” for men’s chorus.

Also featured on this recording are stunning new arrangements of less familiar carols, such as the Catalonian carol, “What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger?,” here arranged for women’s voices; “One December Bright and Clear” and “Masters in This Hall.”

Rounding out the disc are arrangements of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?,” “How Far Is It to Bethlehem?,” “Pat-a-pan,” “Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head,” “Carol of the Bells,” and the haunting “I Wonder as I Wander.”

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been referred to as “America’s Choir,” (Ronald Reagan), “a national treasure” (George Bush), and “the world’s greatest choir” (Eugene Ormandy). The 325 choir members participate without pay as a service to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors the Choir. Year in and year out, these dedicated singers come at least twice a week to the Tabernacle for their regular Thursday evening rehearsals and Sunday morning broadcasts. Added to this, special concerts, concert tours, recordings, and other activities necessitate these volunteers to report for duty an average of 150 times a year.

Dr. Craig D. Jessop, now Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, was appointed to the Choir in 1995 as Associate Director. He brings to his position a wealth of experience from both the professional and academic areas of music. A native of Millville, Utah, he holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Stanford University. Prior to his appointment with the choir, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force music programs. Dr. Jessop has also served as Music Director of the Maryland Choral Society and the Rhineland-Pfalz International Choir of Germany. He enjoyed a long personal and professional association with the late Robert Shaw, as a member for ten years of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers.

Orchestra at Temple Square was organized in the summer of 1999 at the request of Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This disc marks the orchestra’s second recording project since its inception.

"The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has made more than 20 seasonal recordings since its first one (for broadcast to U.S. servicemen in Europe and the Pacific on Christmas Day, 1945), but none finer than this one, led by the group's newly appointed music director, Craig Jessop. Featuring lush arrangements by Mack Wilberg and Barlow Bradford, it emphasizes the gentler, more rapturous moods of the holiday, especially in such beautiful settings as Wilberg's of "Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?" and "How Far Is It to Bethlehem?" and Bradford's fantasy on "What Child Is This?" Balancing these are several selections in which the choir's blazing, full-voiced splendor shines forth, including Wilberg's festive arrangements of "Joy to the World" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," as well as Bradford's colorful take on "Pat-a-pan." The choir's singing is magnificent. Listen to the way the men lead off "The First Noel" and to how the full chorus builds the piece to a gorgeous climax, or to the virtuosic job the singers do in the "Carol of the Bells" (with its echoes of Rachmaninoff's The Bells). Impressively backed by the Orchestra at Temple Square, this is a disc to treasure, and a tribute to the admirable work being done in Salt Lake City by maestro Jessop--who now seems poised to inherit the mantle of Robert Shaw. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy or a worthier musician." (Ted Libbey)

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Orchestra at Temple Square
Craig Jessop, conductor

Digitally remastered

Please Note: we do not offer the 192 kHz version of this album, because there is no audible difference to the 96 kHz version!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
or more than a century, The Tabernacle Choir has given voice to the hopes, joys, trials, and triumphs of people around the world.

This 360-member chorus of men and women, all volunteers, has performed at World’s Fairs and expositions, at inaugurations of U.S. presidents, in acclaimed concert halls from Australia and Europe to Asia and the Middle East, on television broadcasts, and now on YouTube and Facebook. The choir has even been referred to as "America's Choir," as a result of their high standard of popular choral music.

With their incomparable voices and their shared faith in God, they are a significant presence in the world of music, giving service through song. The Tabernacle Choir is dedicated to the universal language of music that has the power to bring joy, peace, and healing to its listeners. This unique music organization transcends cultural and generational boundaries and brings together people from around the world through stirring music.

Known from its beginnings as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Choir changed its name in October 2018 to more closely align with its sponsoring organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Choir is now called "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square." Check the Choir website Newsroom for information about the name change. Please see the Choir website About Us section under Usage for information about how to use the Choir's new name.

The Chorale at Temple Square
is the training school for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Successful completion of the Chorale is the final step in admission to the Choir. The Chorale includes instruction in vocal technique, sight-reading skills, and music theory and concludes with a spring concert conducted by Ryan Murphy, associate music director of the Choir.

New Choir members of one year also participate in the 12-week course. Cherilyn Worthen directs the training school, assisted by Choir vocal coach Rebecca Wilberg and Temple Square organists Bonnie Goodliffe and Linda Margetts.

Craig Jessop (1999–2008)
Craig has had an extensive musical career, including director of the Singing Sergeants in the United States Air Force, conductor of the Band of the United States Air Forces in Europe, conductor of the Air Combat Command Heartland of America Band, as well as director of choral activities at Granite High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This album contains no booklet.