Joseph Spencer Cornwall (February 23, 1888 – February 26, 1983) was a conductor of the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for ov ...

in the mid-20th century. Cornwall was born at Mill Creek,

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

. Cornwall was the conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1935 to 1957. Under his leadership the choir made some of its first trips outside of the United States. Probably the most noted of these was when it performed at the dedication of the

Swiss Temple The Bern Switzerland Temple (formerly the Swiss Temple) is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was the church's first temple built in Europe, and the first built outside of North America.Toone, Trent"The Bern ...

. Cornwall was also a writer. He wrote ''The Story of Our Mormon Hymns'' as well as a centennial history of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, ''A Century of Singing,'' published by Deseret Book in 1958. Among his early music instructors was

George Careless George Edward Percy Careless (September 24, 1839 – March 5, 1932) was a prominent Latter-day Saint composer and conductor. Careless was born in London, England. As a child he studied at the Royal Academy in London. He performed at Exeter Hall ...

. As choir director, Cornwall tried to raise the level of performance in the choir. Cornwall composed the music to John Jaques's "Softly Beams the Sacred Dawning," which is hymn #56 in the 1985 LDS Church hymnal.

Personal life

Cornwall married Mary Alice Haigh. Cornwall first met her when her music instructor, Hugh W. Dougall, asked Cornwall to accompany a song by Haigh. Haigh performed widely after her marriage to Cornwall and was later a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir before and during her husband's time as director of the choir. The Cornwalls had seven children, the youngest of whom is

Carol Cornwall Madsen Carol Cornwall Madsen (born 1930) is an emeritus professor of history at Brigham Young University (BYU) where she was a research historian with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. She also served as associate director of BYU's ...

.Interview with Carol Cornwall Madsen
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Notes

1888 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American conductors (music) American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters American Latter Day Saints American choral conductors American male conductors (music) Musicians from Salt Lake City Tabernacle Choir music directors 20th-century male musicians {{LDS-stub