Music and the Spoken Word

Corla, Anita, Roy, Corine Howard 1964

I was raised in a home with music all around.  My mother played records of classical and Western and religious and all kinds of music.  She took me to choir practice where she was the accompanist.  She supported me in the various instruments I learned to play.  We sang around the organ every evening.

Sunday Mornings we listened to the radio broadcast "Music and the Spoken Word". Today you can listen to the broadcast anytime online.

http://www.musicandthespokenword.com/

Here you can go directly to read the messages of your choice:

http://www.musicandthespokenword.com/messages/

The first broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word was on a hot summer afternoon in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, July 15, 1929. The announcer climbed a ladder to speak into the one and only microphone, suspended from the ceiling. He stayed perched on the ladder throughout the half-hour program. An audio engineer was alerted by telegraph when to start. Hand signals cued the announcer. He began: "From the crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a program of inspirational music and spoken word." Those words, from more than seven decades ago, still open the program.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Today Music and the Spoken Word has become the world's longest-running continuous network broadcast and is carried on more than 2,000 radio and television stations and cable systems. It has been broadcast from locations across the country and around the world.