Religions have a mixed relationship with music; within both Christianity and Islam, you can find strains that eschew all human compositions as a distraction from the divine, as well as robust musical traditions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (to use the Mormons\u2019 official name) has leaned firmly to the latter side since its foundation nearly two centuries ago. Among the revelations claimed by their founder Joseph Smith was God\u2019s affirmation that \u201cthe song of the righteous is a prayer unto me\u201d\u009d\u201d\u201din other words, the faithful could and positively should sing as well as speak to their Maker. The faith\u2019s choral and orchestral talents were soon reinforced by an influx of converts from Victorian England, some of whom were Methodists and bearers of that faith\u2019s strong musical heritage.<\/p>\n
As Markus Rathey, a professor of music history at Yale University puts it, some faiths hold that \u201cthe use of music transports you into a state in which you\u2019re open for the divine.\u201d\u009d And the Latter-day Saints have always been of that persuasion.<\/p>\n