Director: Dr. Richard P Condie
Conductor: Eugene Ormondy
Track listing: The Lord’s Prayer Come, Come Ye Saints / Blessed Are They That Mourn / O, My Father / How Great the Wisdom and the Love / Holy, Holy, Holy / 148th Psalm / For Unto Us a Child Is Born / David’s Lamentation / Battle Hymn of the Republic
January 11, 1960
1 week (stereo)
With a membership of 375 and a history dating well over a century, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is undoubtedly the largest and oldest vocal ensemble ever to top the Billboard album chart.
It was in 1847 that the first Mormon Choir sang in its newly settled home of Salt Lake City, Utah. Music has always been a big part of Mormon culture, and is even addressed in the religion’s scriptures: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart.” Yet even Mormon leader Brigham Young likely would have been surprised by the widespread popularity of the Choir in 1960.
The Tabernacle Choir’s recording history dates back to 1910, when the vocal group was the subject of recording experiments conducted by the Columbia Phonograph Company and the Victory Company. It wasn’t until October 19, 1959, however, that a Mormon Tabernacle Choir landed an album on Billboard’s album chart. The Lord’s Prayer featured the Choir, directed by Dr. Richard P. Condie, accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy, along with organists Alexander Schreiner and Frank W. Asper. It wasn’t the first time that the Choir had joined forces with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as Columbia had previously released The Beloved Choruses. “We did have a very good working relationship with Eugene Ormandy,” says Helen Hillier, who sang in the Choir from 1954 through 1980. “He loved the Choir and we loved Eugene Ormandy.”
In its prime, the Choir would record one or two albums a year, Hillier says. The Lord’s Prayer, like most of the Choir’s albums, was recorded in the Tabernacle, the famed auditorium built in 1867. The 6,000-seat building, which is 250 feet long and 150 feet wide and has a ceiling 80 feet high, is known for its fine acoustics.
For material, the Choir drew on a cross-section of Christian music, ranging from Leroy J. Robertson’s “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Come, Come Ye Saints,” to Johannes Brahma’s “Blessed Are They That Mourn” and George Frederick Handel’s “For unto Us a Child is Born.”
The song that would stand out on the album, however, was one of the more unlikely choices to be sung by the Choir, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Peter J. Wihousky and Julia Ward Howe. “I remember Ormandy as he conducted and we rehearsed ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic,’ ” says Hillier. “He did it with kind of a smile on his face and rather tongue-in-cheek, because he thought the album would probably sell, because of that particular song. But I don’t think anyone, including him, had any idea what it actually would become.”
The Tabernacle Choir’s version of the song reached number 16 on the pop chart and went on to win a Grammy. “It was a classical recording, but even the teenagers that were listening to rock ‘n’ roll were buying it,” says Hillier. “It became the Choir’s signature piece. We always concluded our performances with it. It was what people came to hear.”
On January 11, 1960, spiritual themes and imagery seemed to be at an all-time high on the Billboard charts. On the Best Selling Pop EP’s list, Tennessee Ernie Ford held the Number One and number three positions with Hymns and Spirituals. At number two on the Stereo Action Albums chart was Johnny Mathis’s Heavenly. It only seemed appropriate that The Lord’s Prayer was at the summit.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of January 11, 1960
1 . The Lord’s Prayer, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir/ The Philadelphia Orchestra
2. Heavenly, Johnny Mathis
3. Here We Go Again, The Kingston Trio
4. The Sound of Music, Original Cast
5. For the First Time, Mario Lanza