"On a signal from the conductor, the choir and congregation will join in singing..."

[Vort]

The phrase "On a signal from the conductor" was used by both President Eyring and President Uchtdorf (in German, no less) in last month's General Conference. I did not recognize it as one that had been used before in General Conference, though a quick lds.org search shows that President Hinckley did indeed use it during the dedication of the new Conference Center in October conference of 2000.

 

Clearly it was a conscious decision to use this particular phrase. Anyone know why this was done? Have Conference attendees been unaware of or otherwise confused by the conductor's role in leading them in singing hymns?

[pam]

Was it used on a song that started out with the choir singing and then the congregation joined in?  That would make sense to me to inform the congregation to wait for the signal from the conductor.  

 

Just throwing thoughts out there.  Perhaps it's a phrase that would be easily interpreted into different languages.

[Jane_Doe]

How else would the congregation know when to join in?

 

Everyone involved in a song takes cues from the conductor, that's the conductor's job...

[Vort]

Was it used on a song that started out with the choir singing and then the congregation joined in?  That would make sense to me to inform the congregation to wait for the signal from the conductor.

 

Was it used on a song that started out with the choir singing and then the congregation joined in?  That would make sense to me to inform the congregation to wait for the signal from the conductor.

 

Yes. It was used in the Priesthood session and the two Sunday sessions:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP7Au8gO3jQ#t=50m55s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OniUw5QAc_4#t=44m11s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiqdMgocfhA#t=48m8s

 

How else would the congregation know when to join in?

 

I don't know; it seems kind of obvious. That's what the conductor is there for. This is my question. Have there been difficulties in getting the congregation to acknowledge or follow the conductor in previous General Conference sessions? Because I've never noticed the use of this phrase before now.

[pam]

I guess I just don't see anything odd with it.  

[Vort]

I guess I just don't see anything odd with it.  

 

It is odd only because it is new. That's my entire question: Does any know why this was added? Or am I mistaken, and this phrase has commonly been used through the years and I just haven't noticed it?

[Traveler]

It is odd only because it is new. That's my entire question: Does any know why this was added? Or am I mistaken, and this phrase has commonly been used through the years and I just haven't noticed it?

 

It could be new - new revelation is to be expected in the LDS church.

[Average Joe]

secret code for those awaiting "the call out"  

[Vort]

secret code for those awaiting "the call out"

 

Unsurprisingly, I'm not among those in the know.

[Crypto]

I think it has been used before in prior conferences when the choir starts and then the congregation joins in later.

[Average Joe]

Unsurprisingly, I'm not among those in the know.

Sorry...I shouldn't have let you in on our secret...but like J. Golden Kimball, I repent to fast

[askandanswer]

This is only peripherally related to Vort's comment. In our stake, and several other Australian stakes that I've been in during conference broadcasts, there is always some confusion in the congregation in the last few bars of each hymn. No matter who the chorister is, conference choristers seem to have this habit of dramatically slowing down the singing in the last few bars of the last verse of the hymn and it "gets" Australian congregations every time. Some slow down to follow the conductor and some continue singing at the original pace and as a result, the final notes of the hymn seem to just fade away. 

[Vort]

This is only peripherally related to Vort's comment. In our stake, and several other Australian stakes that I've been in during conference broadcasts, there is always some confusion in the congregation in the last few bars of each hymn. No matter who the chorister is, conference choristers seem to have this habit of dramatically slowing down the singing in the last few bars of the last verse of the hymn and it "gets" Australian congregations every time. Some slow down to follow the conductor and some continue singing at the original pace and as a result, the final notes of the hymn seem to just fade away. 

 

Yep. This is actually not uncommon in US congregational singing, though it's much more pronounced at General Conference.

[Palerider]

Paying attention while watching General Conference ?? I thought we knitted during that time. :)

[char713]

I noted the direction as well. I believe it was because the hymn had an unusually long intro arrangement - and as members we are used to listening for the "cue" to start singing in all the hymns that we know and love. With a crowd as big as the one in the Conference Center, it would have been quite a bit awkward if even half of the congregation started singing before the exact right moment. 

[Blackmarch]

It is odd only because it is new. That's my entire question: Does any know why this was added? Or am I mistaken, and this phrase has commonly been used through the years and I just haven't noticed it?

more likely just a different way of saying something... however if the hymn is a special arangement then that phrasing itself would be more significant, as the order, tempo, and etc... that we are accustomed to might not be followed in the manner we expect in which case the the conductor signal when to join in would be more important than just merely "joining in on verse <insert verse number>"

Edited May 10, 2015 by Blackmarch