David Dalton History

David Dalton History Brigham Young University Professor of Viola/ Literature/ Pedagogy Interview: 2009 Education BM, Eastman School of Music, 1957 MM, Eastman School of Music, 1961 DMA, Indiana University, 1970 Interview with Mike Ohman The purpose of this discussion is to learn That happened during my “irreverent period.” about you. I have some prepared questions, but we’ll probably diverge from Yes, it was, and that was an opening to these questions. We’re especially me, as a freshman at BYU—that BYU had interested in your stories. The plan is to professors like this. That was how I met get a picture, as well as a written you and Glenn Williams. document, that will go into the library We did some lecturing, “officious archives, along with the transcribed proclaiming,” about music in the Church. We interviews of other music faculty. The tried to differentiate between what we called interview will also go online. good music—a topic always subject to I remember you when I was a first- debate—and music that could be classified as semester freshman, taking a beginning “Mormon pop.” Over the years, we‟ve class in music appreciation. Your wife wondered if the strictures have become came and sang for us, and you were tightened, with regard to appropriate and extolling the virtues of “good” music in inappropriate music in the Church. I support the Church vs. other music that’s not so such strictures. For instance, the main good. You put other words to the song instrument in our church services should be “Temple by the River”, your wife sang it, the organ. I don‟t think anyone disputes that. and you asked us to consider what the The other instrumental body we should use is music was doing for us. the choir. Of course at the heart of our worship services, as far as music literature is You broadened our horizons, because as a concerned, are the hymns. young boy, I had played that piece for Jessie Evans Smith to sing in our ward But it‟s come to the point now, and it saddens conference. So I was interested in your me a little personally, that the great composers perspective on the piece. of religious music in Western culture—Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, and others—have It was obviously a stab to your heart. become, seemingly, persona non grata in our worship services. In fact, it was not. It was an opening of my mind to new concepts. So I thank you I have viola students who play well enough to for that. perform very decently in sacrament meeting, 2 and very recently I said of a transcription for I thought, Why can’t we have more of this? I was viola by Fauré, “This is very beautiful—very disturbed by poor taste in the choice in music, sedate, very worshipful music. Why don‟t you and worse than poor taste is that people don‟t ask your music director if you can play it?” even bother to rehearse their music well. They can make a shambles of what they perform. The student replied, “No, I can‟t even Members who are called upon to give a talk approach them. Unless I play a hymn, I can‟t are very prayerful about it, but sometimes the play.” music is ill prepared, not what we should In German, that‟s called “päpstlicher als der bring to the Lord‟s supper, to the sacrament papst”, which means “more popish than the table. Pope.” That‟s my viewpoint. I don‟t disagree So I was disturbed, and I knew people who with the major tenets of what the music told me they didn‟t come to sacrament service should be in the LDS Church, but I‟m meeting anymore because they couldn‟t stand saddened by the fact that so much of the the music. That‟s too bad, but I have a feeling world‟s wealth of religious and spiritual music for them. Then I decided, I believe in the gospel is no longer allowed in many, many of our whole-heartedly. All right, I can’t expect the Church congregations. We wouldn‟t say, “No more to give me absolutely everything I need in life. It cannot Isaac Watts. We can sing no more texts satisfy my yearning for what I think is the best in written by non-LDS authors.” We don‟t do music. But I can still learn from my fellow that. congregationalists. Many things about the gospel are So when you took my class, that was during elevating, marvelous, and enhancing to life. I decided, my “irreverent period.” I‟ve mellowed since. Okay, when something in church is sloppily done, in Actually, I came to a bit of a crisis—my own bad taste musically, I’ll just let it go by me. I‟ve had crisis. I was steeped in music. I‟d been to a great peace of mind ever since. wonderful school—the Eastman School of When I was bishop, I had to control a little bit. Music. When I was in my doctoral studies at Only a couple of times did we have torch Indiana University, at one of the first singers who slipped by. I trained my meetings I attended in the Bloomington Ward, counselor and the music director, and they a marvelous LDS singer, Roy Samuelsen, were wonderfully responsive. They made sure stood up in sacrament meeting and sang “Die that as much as possible, the music was Almacht” (“The Almighty”), by Schubert. He worthy of the spirit of that very important had a good accompanist. I thought I was meeting. going to cry; I was pinned against the bench. I thought, This is so elevating, so transporting. That Where did you get your early life and was in 1967, and he wouldn‟t be allowed to do training as a musician? that today. If he‟s still living, and in voice, he will sing that at my funeral. It was a glorious My early training was pitching hay, threshing performance. grain, and doing all those farm activities in Springville, Utah. My dad was a cattleman, and he also farmed. He had a dairy in Sanpete 3 County, which I frequented as little as I took our lessons. I took lessons from Harold possibly could. We had acreage around Wolf, who was still a resident of California, Springville and Mapleton, where we raised and he had been a member of the Los essentially grain and alfalfa, feed for the cattle. Angeles Philharmonic. He was plucked out by Maurice Abravanel, long-time director of the I don‟t recall if it was my idea, but when I was Utah Symphony, and had done one season as around eight years old or so (I think it was my the concertmaster of the Utah Symphony. I mother‟s idea—she was into culture), I found studied with him in the summer, and that was a violin under the Christmas tree. I would very, very enlightening. I was still studying have preferred a bicycle. That was, shall we violin. Wolf was a wonderful person for me at say, the beginning of the end. I took to the that particular juncture in my life. violin to a certain degree. My friend had a violin that had a cherry color to the varnish, When I came back to BYU for my second and I much preferred his violin. I was jealous year—my sophomore year, which turned out of it. to be my last year—I studied with Wolf in Salt Lake City and joined the Utah Symphony. I started my lessons with the man who was Professionally, I was sort of in the “big time.” then the high school music director in I remember playing the suite from Daphes and Springville, Harmon Hatch—a good man, Chloe, which I had never heard before, and La very versatile. He did very well with the Mer, by Debussy, which I had also never orchestra—we had one of the best orchestras heard. I was back in the second violins, just in the state at that time, and one of the best trying to stay afloat. One of my riveting bands. He was my teacher up until junior high experiences happened when Abravanel school. Then I went northward to Provo to conducted his first Mahler performance by study with John Hilgandorf, whom anyone the Utah Symphony. (He went on to record my age would remember. He was from the whole cycle of Mahler symphonies—the Germany, and a great developer of orchestral first orchestra in the world at that time to strings. have recorded the full cycle, quite an When I entered high school, our mutual accomplishment. In the first movement, when agreement came very easily—I went to BYU the opening quiet theme of the Mahler First and studied with Lawrence Sardoni, a violin appears again [hums it], then it goes parumph! instructor, and he was also the director of the parumph! parumph! Fortissimo in the BYU symphony. BYU had one orchestra in horns… I‟d never heard that gliss effect those days. I entered BYU in 1952. before. That was a very vivid experience. My second year, three of us musicians from At the end of that season, I was called on a the BYU symphony—a cellist, a flautist, and mission. I remember Harold Woolf had said, I—decided to go down to the big city of Los “You aren‟t going on a mission, are you?” Angeles.

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