Mr. Robinson's opus
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William Robinson leads Arlington Elementary students in song in 1959. Photo: Courtesy of Murray Museum
Scores of singers are gathering in Murray this week to honor a beloved schoolteacher whom the community has celebrated for more than a century.
The big picture: The Robinson Carols Sing-Along is an annual tribute to William Robinson, a Murray music teacher who, starting in 1907, walked from one end of the district to the other, leading each school in Christmas concerts and sing-alongs.
The intrigue: For more than 30 years, Robinson taught arrangements of Christmas songs he learned in Derbyshire, England, where he was born in the 1870s.
- They became a unique Murray oral tradition, passed from generation to generation — until they were so ubiquitous in the Salt Lake suburb that many residents were surprised to learn they weren't familiar holiday standards anywhere else.
Case in point: Ethel Bradford, a longtime columnist for the Murray Eagle, wrote in 1963 that she learned Robinson's "Chime and Carol" from her older siblings before attending school in another district.
- "Each year I hopefully listened and waited for the song to be once more sung but never heard it again. In fact, I began to wonder where in the world I had learned it myself!"
- It wasn't until Ethel had children of her own — enrolled in a Murray school — that she again heard the familiar lyrics.
- "It was a long time before I could listen or try to sing them without tears coming and my voice choking. ... I was a child again in my mother's kitchen," she wrote.
Catch up quick: Murray students sang the carols for decades after Robinson retired.
- Eight years ago, former students and descendants of Mr. Robinson revived his carols in the sing-alongs, which became popular, all-ages affairs.
Driving the news: This year, the old-timey tradition has a new home in the recently renovated historic Murray Theater — which opened in 1938, two years before Robinson retired, and reopened in September.
- Demand for tickets was so high that the city arts department planned two this year.
- Monday night's show was sold out, but you can still reserve seats for 6:30pm Friday.
The latest: Kids at Horizon Elementary are learning one of Robinson's carols for their holiday program later this month.
The bottom line: Teaching has gotten so difficult that many are leaving the profession — with music and art instructors particularly vulnerable to funding cuts.
- It's moving to see how one can make difference for more than 100 years.
