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Show Salt Lake Tabernacle mi Cfipir to k t Used in Film Version of "CoriantGn' : An Interview with David A. Smith, President of the Choir, By Dr. M. Markna Some time in January a producers produc-ers syndicate will commence filming film-ing "Corianton," the play whose author, O. U. Dean, was hailed by literary critics as the American Shakespeare, and of whom one of ' the critics said he had "Out-Shake-spearcd" Shakespeare. The largest part of the filming , will be done is the widely known ' De Forrest Sluiiios in Long Island, but one part will necessarily have to be done in Salt Lake City, be-' be-' , cause the world-famous Tabernacle Organ and the great Tabernacle Choir will be used in the sound synchronization of the film. , ' The play, its story, its history, and its success are common knowl-j knowl-j edge. The story of the play is taken tak-en from the Book of Mormon, frequently fre-quently end erroneously called "The Mormon liible." In addition to being a religious document the Book of Mormon is, in some respects, re-spects, a history, proven by archaeological archae-ological discoveries, the latest one of which is that ancient city, the remains of which, have been ob-" ob-" . served from the air by Colonel ; Lindbergh in his recent flight over Central America jungles. Such remains re-mains are expected to shed con---. sidcrable light on the American of. about half a thousand years before j the Christian era. How did it come about that the presidency of the "Mormon" church, permitted the use of the great organ and the widely reputed choir, built and organized primarily primar-ily for sacred and religious pur poses, in so secular an undertake ing as a "movie?" This question caused me to seek an authoritative , answer. The logical man to give that answer is David A. Jmith, the president of the Tabernacle Choir. An interview was requested, and graciously granted. To the inquiry as to the reason for granting (hat great and valuable valu-able privilege, Mr. Smith, with a smile on his lips and a swift glance in the direction of the publicity manager present at the interview, answered, "Persuasion." Then quickly changing the course of his thought from humorous to serious, Mr. Smith immediately continued. "The church has always been interested in-terested in the play "Corianton," because its story is taken from the Book of Mormon. On the stage the subject is visualized and, therefore, there-fore, more easily remembered. If seen by many it might 'give to many the incentive to want to know more about ancient America, that America which Is dealt with in the Book of Mormon, and which is of unusual interest and great importance im-portance to American archaeologists. archaeolo-gists. Entirely aside from religious relig-ious angles, the Book of Mormon gives of ancient America a story that has been proven and authenticated authenti-cated by many archaeological discoveries dis-coveries of our time. Students arc working on the remains of the language spoken by the Americans of thousands of years ago, and are rummaging among old bits of prehistoric pre-historic writings, digging out the , meanings of hieroglyphics they find, and restoring to something like grammatical order the various scraps of words and phrases. One day the meanings of buildings, carvings, sign writings and art rcl- ics will be fitted together like pieces piec-es of a puzzle and everybody will J be able to read the story of Amer- . ica from centuries before Christ down to Columbus." "Is the interest in those things . I really of so general a nature?" was the next question. The answer was, "If it is not, we want to make it so. That it docs not confine itself it-self to just a few is amply and con-- con-- vincingly proven by the fact that so many people visit our tabernacle grounds and the organ recitals which we give in the tabernacle daily, with the exception .of Sundays. Sun-days. We have statistics showing that from a quarter to a -half million mil-lion people annually visit the re- citals. On account of this manifest interest we have made the elevating elevat-ing music of that world-famous organ accessible to larger numbers and wider circles by permittijig, on two occasions, the Victor Talking ' Machine Company to make records of the choir and organ. Lately we have, made the instrumental and vocal music of organ and choir still more accessible to musk lovers in -general by having it broadcast over the radio. t "Does it have effect? Letters, after letters are coming to this office of-fice expressing thanks and appreciation apprec-iation for- the "rare musical 'treat. . One letter just received here comes from a ranger deep in Canadian -forests, a hundred or more miles away from civilization. This good ranger is thanking us for bringing high class music into his recesses of the forest so far away frem contact con-tact with civilization. ? "The tabernacle' choir is known all over the United States not only through phonograph records and , radio broadcasting but also through concerts which the choir in years past has given in several large cities of the United States. Amoug the citiea visited was Washington, D.C. President Taft was unable to attend the concert on account ' of previous engagements, and after -the choir had performed, Senator ' Reed Smoot came to the director, telling him that the president would like to hear the choir., and inviting us to sing that night in the White House. We went. We . were taken to the spacious east . room where the president, cabinet members, senators and members of the diplomatic corps were assemb- ' led to hear us. It had been agreed that we sing two numbers, and after af-ter having finished them the president presi-dent asked whether we would not do him the avor of singing some more. Of course, we did. . The -, next morning' the papers carried large streamers, 'President and Diplomatic Corps Listen to Mormon Mor-mon Choir,' and critics paid high compliments to the singers. That day we had to sing in Richmond, Virginia, where the clergy of other 1 denominations had conducted a regular campaign against us, painting paint-ing Mormons as black as they could, and warning people not to attend the concert, but on account of these headlines and reports we had a crowded house and the most enthusiastic audience." - - Upon further questioning, Mr, Smith informed the writer that the church is maintaining the musical organization with three organists, ' two choristers, and about 300 hundred voices in the choir. An--thony C Lund will direct the choir when singing for synchronization, and Tracy Y. Cannon will be at the console. The two men need no introduction to musicians and music mus-ic enthusiasts in our country, or other countries. |