{"id":52791,"date":"2026-02-22T04:20:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T11:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=52791"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:10:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T05:10:20","slug":"the-radical-1948-hymnal-how-we-got-our-solemn-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2026\/02\/the-radical-1948-hymnal-how-we-got-our-solemn-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"The &#8220;Radical&#8221; 1948 Hymnal: How We Got Our Solemn Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">With a new, global hymnbook on the horizon, Latter-day Saints are currently buzzing about what will be added and what might be lost. We tend to view the current &#8220;green book&#8221; (1985) as the definitive standard of our musical worship, but in reality, the solemn, organ-centric sound we associate with Sacrament meeting is a relatively recent invention\u2014and one man is largely responsible for it. In a fascinating new interview over at the Latter-day Saint history blog, <i data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"466\">From the Desk<\/i>, biographer Shelby Fisher introduces us to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/tracy-cannon-lds-hymbook-evolution\/\">Tracy Y. Cannon<\/a>, the tabernacle organist and committee chair who, in 1948, radically steered the Church away from its pioneer folk roots and toward the &#8220;dignified, refined&#8221; aesthetic of the Protestant mainstream.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"6OLj5ekZxT\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/tracy-cannon-lds-hymbook-evolution\/\">How Did Tracy Y. Cannon Shape Latter-day Saint Hymnbooks?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;How Did Tracy Y. Cannon Shape Latter-day Saint Hymnbooks?&#8221; &#8212; From the Desk\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/tracy-cannon-lds-hymbook-evolution\/embed\/#?secret=v7QwEYEQoP#?secret=6OLj5ekZxT\" data-secret=\"6OLj5ekZxT\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"9\">The &#8220;Homegrown&#8221; Failure of 1927<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">Fisher explains that before Cannon fully took the reins, the Church\u2019s musical identity was somewhat chaotic. The <b data-path-to-node=\"10\" data-index-in-node=\"113\">1927 hymnal<\/b> attempted to unify the Saints. Still, it leaned heavily on &#8220;homegrown talent&#8221; and music for choirs rather than congregations (as might be expected from a committee composed mostly of Tabernacle Choir staff). The result? A collection of texts that were often &#8220;difficult to sing and poorly executed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote data-path-to-node=\"11\">\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11,0\">The General Music Committee was not necessarily discerning with the 1927 hymnal. Many of the texts they collected were difficult to sing &#8230;<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11,1\">Many bishops balked at the cost &#8230; and simply ignored the committee\u2019s suggestion to purchase the new hymnal. Instead, they continued working with whatever books they had been using [like the <i data-path-to-node=\"11,1\" data-index-in-node=\"191\">Songs of Zion<\/i>].<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">(As a side note, the 1927 hymnal was the original green hymnal, and some anecdotes I&#8217;ve heard indicate that the 1985 hymnal was green because of it.)<\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"13\">The Radical Pivot of 1948<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\">The most significant turning point came with the <b data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"49\">1948 hymnal<\/b>. Under Cannon\u2019s leadership, the committee made a &#8220;radical decision&#8221; to stop looking inward for talent and start looking outward.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-path-to-node=\"15\">\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15,0\">This was in direct opposition to the approach they took in 1927 when they sought to cultivate &#8220;homegrown talent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15,1\">The impulse to look to the musical traditions of other denominations can be traced directly to both Tracy Cannon and Alexander Schreiner &#8230; Both men had studied in Europe and gained an appreciation for the refined, harmonic elegance of the Lutheran and Anglican traditions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\">This is why our current hymnal feels so &#8220;classical.&#8221; Cannon wanted to professionalize the liturgy, moving the Saints away from bouncy Sunday School ditties toward the majesty of Bach and Handel. He effectively standardized the organ as the musical voice of the Church. A lot of our current hymnody is derived from this 1948\/1950 hymnal.<\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"17\">The End of an Era?<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"18\">Interestingly, Fisher suggests that the upcoming hymnbook might signal the waning of Cannon\u2019s influence. While Cannon championed the organ, the new collection includes &#8220;fluid pianistic textures&#8221; and even guitar chords, embracing a diversity of musical styles that Cannon likely would have resisted.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"19\">For more on Cannon\u2019s legacy, the &#8220;unsingable&#8221; hymns of the past, and how a rural schoolteacher named Leroy Robertson got his big break for $25, head on over to the Latter-day Saint history blog, <i data-path-to-node=\"19\" data-index-in-node=\"195\">From the Desk<\/i>, to read the full interview about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/tracy-cannon-lds-hymbook-evolution\/\">Tracy Y. Cannon<\/a> with Shelby Fisher.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"19\">While you&#8217;re there, check out the updated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fromthedesk.org\/brigham-young\/\">Brigham Young<\/a> page!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a new, global hymnbook on the horizon, Latter-day Saints are currently buzzing about what will be added and what might be lost. We tend to view the current &#8220;green book&#8221; (1985) as the definitive standard of our musical worship, but in reality, the solemn, organ-centric sound we associate with Sacrament meeting is a relatively recent invention\u2014and one man is largely responsible for it. In a fascinating new interview over at the Latter-day Saint history blog, From the Desk, biographer Shelby Fisher introduces us to Tracy Y. Cannon, the tabernacle organist and committee chair who, in 1948, radically steered the Church away from its pioneer folk roots and toward the &#8220;dignified, refined&#8221; aesthetic of the Protestant mainstream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2890],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-desk"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52791"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52793,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52791\/revisions\/52793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}