The Buzz

I’ll admit it – handbell choirs were one of those things that swept protestant churches in the 1980s that annoyed the bejeebers out of me. They were everywhere.

But as with many things related to music (and disaster preparedness) [1] the Mormons have it all over the rest of us goyim.

Case in point; a handbell choir doing “Flight of the Bumblebee”:

[1] And, lately, videography; the last few years of vids from the Mormon Tabernacle’s music department have been visually stunning.

9 thoughts on “The Buzz”

Mormons have some hot girls…which is good if you’re marrying more than one.

I did see a guy play “Edlewiess” using cowbells in New Ulm a couple of years ago. It was pretty good.

Three quick observations…
1. There is sheet music for hand bell ringers and they can read it?
2. All the players are smiling. Last time I went to the symphony the players were scowling, like they were about to do brain surgery (maybe the fact that they were about to be locked out?)
3. Chuck – You missed adding a “doncha know” to your comment.

My kids have done handbells for a while, and their leader notes that all the members of the LDS group have exactly the same smile….technically and musically great, but all have exactly the same smile.

And yes, there is music to it, and the biggest, most challenging thing about it is that you’re waiting for your note. So counting is huge.

And swiftee, I’m thinking that while these gals have decent (though artificial) smiles, it appears that a number of them have also been hitting the SLC “fry sauce” (basically ketchup and mayo mixed, it’s actually pretty good) pretty hard, if you catch my drift. But if you look up the pictures of the wives of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith on wiki, you’ll see that’s a tradition, too.

Swiftee-
I read some commentary by an ex-Mormon (and not a hostile one) who said that from about age fourteen the goal of every Mormon girl is to land the most powerful, alpha-male Mormon they can find — without actually engaging in sexual intercourse with him. Them girls is under a lot of pressure!

A former Mormon of my acquaintance (and also not hostile to that religon, just didn’t believe it anymore) noted that when the missionaries come back, the ladies are lined up to greet them. Not exactly what Powhatan said, but same basic idea.