Norman Vincent Peale's The Coming of the King

Norman Vincent Peale was surely one of the most famous members of the American clergy in the last century due to his writings, radio programs and television appearances. His 1952 book The Power of Positive Thinking sold as many as five million copies.

In 1956 Peale turned his attentions to children's books via his retelling of the Nativity story for young readers. In The Coming of the King, the author emphasized the humanity of the characters, and the difficulty and wonder of the Holy Family's odyssey.

David Wayne

That same year, Columbia Records produced an audio version of the book. It was narrated by the well-known actor David Wayne, who was backed by music from popular composer Don Gillis, whose Saga of a Prairie School appeared on this blog many years ago.

Despite the famous names involved - and what Billboard termed an "extremely potent promotion campaign" - neither the book nor record achieved any lasting renown. My friend Ernie, who has posted this LP on his blog, says it is relatively rare in the record and thrift stores he frequents.

Ralph Hunter

It's too bad, really, because the story is very well-done, the music is enjoyable and the performers are accomplished. The choral group is led by Ralph Hunter, a talented conductor who was then the director of New York's Collegiate Chorale in succession to its founder, Robert Shaw. In addition to classical and church programs, Hunter also dabbled in popular music. He is responsible for RCA Victor's 1959 LP Christmas Surprises, one of the best-ever records of holiday music.

It so happens that the Collegiate Chorale was named for Dr. Peale's Marble Collegiate Church in New York. When Shaw formed the group in 1941, he found rehearsal space at the church for a time. But as Shaw tells the tale, one day "I was called in by Dr. Peale into his office and he informed me that we could continue to rehearse there if we limited our membership to WASPs and 50% of those WASPs had to be members of the church." Peale - like most people at that time - was not without prejudice. As late as 1960, he opposed the candidacy of John F. Kennedy for American President because Kennedy was a Catholic.

Marble Collegiate Church

Much later, Peale and Shaw did reconcile. In about 1990, as Shaw recalled, "I got a letter – a complete surprise – from Dr. Norman Vincent Peale that said, 'Dear Mr. Shaw: I’m getting along in years and I made a mistake. I have followed your career and I am embarrassed about it and I just simply want to say I’m sorry. I made a mistake in those years.'" Peale later wrote about the matter in his magazine Guideposts in an article entitled, "It's Never Too Late."

Because of Hunter's presence, it is possible and even likely that the Collegiate Chorale or its members perform on the record. I suspect that the split between Peale and the Chorale is the reason why the group on the record is called the "Gothic Voices."

Arturo Toscanini and composer Don Gillis, who produced
the conductor's NBC broadcasts for many years

At this point, I might mention belatedly that The Coming of Christ takes up only one side of the LP. The other is devoted to mainly familiar Christmas songs as performed by the "Columbia Carolers," who sound very much like the Gothic Voices. Don Gillis' lovely carol "The Coming of the King" is performed by both groups, and while the recordings are not the same, they are very similar. Still, it seems odd that Columbia would ascribe the two sides to different groups if they are the same performers.

Ashley Miller

Also belatedly, let me mention that a great deal of the music for The Coming of the King is performed by organist Ashley Miller. The majority of that work consists of narrative accompanied by organ, with occasional interjections from the choir. Although the music is ascribed to Gillis, it's possible that some of the organ passages under the narration are performed ad libitum by Miller.

Like Hunter, Miller had roots in both popular and classical music. He spent a number of years as the Radio City Music Hall organist, and later provided music for both TV soap operas and New York's professional sports teams.

The Coming of the King is quite a good production. I hope that Ernie won't mind my posting it here - I've been trying to get a successful transfer of my pressing for years, and finally succeeded. If you enjoy this record, you might want to listen to Gillis' melodious Saga of a Prairie School, which I've newly remastered.

Title page of the book