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ACT III - Song 14 - A Prophet, Holy and Pure

Country Holiday (from Four Miniatures, 1972)
by Sergiu Shapira (b. 1931)

| The Israeli Contemporary Music Project

Sergiu Shapira: Country Holiday | Hagai Yodan, piano

After Joseph Smith, 38 years of age, was assassinated on June 27th, 1844, many saints blamed his wife, Emma, because she had written the letter that convinced him to go to Carthage where he was murdered just a few days after arriving. The attitude of the saints towards Emma was further exacerbated by Brigham Young who blamed Emma’s public stance against plural marriage for undermining Joseph as the Prophet of God, emboldening his enemies and animating them into action against him.  The effects of which culminated in the creation of the first break-a-away branch of the church in Nauvoo (“The True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” led by William Law, a former member of the First Presidency), the printing of the Nauvoo Expositor and Joseph’s murder. 

The chaos in Nauvoo, both in the months leading up to Joseph’s death and the immediate aftermath, has often caused me to ponder: what was it like and how did people maintain their testimonies?  There was so much noise, so many accusations, so much gossip and misinformation.  The truth was certainly hard to hear.

As I have studied the history of the restoration, one of the things that has become abundantly clear to me is this: Emma was a great woman, indeed an “Elect Lady” as the Lord called her (D&C 25:3 “thou art an elect lady, whom I have called”) and the First Lady of the Restoration.  I love what Joseph Smith wrote of Emma while he was in hiding in the summer of 1842: “Again she is here, even in the seventh trouble, undaunted, firm and unwavering, unchangeable, affectionate Emma.”  I believe my testimony of Emma Hale Smith as an integral part of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is as firm as my testimony of Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Restoration.

By the time Joseph left for Carthage on June 24th, 1844, Emma had given birth to 8 of Joseph’s children and was pregnant with the nineth.  Sadly, by 1844 she and Joseph had buried 5 of those children and one adopted child (Alvin, Thaddeus, Luisa, Joseph Murdock, Don Carlos and Thomas).  Knowing what we know of small children who die before the age of accountability, I look forward to one day meeting these elect souls.

As Emma and her remaining children watched Joseph leave for Carthage, I wonder what she must have felt. Having already lost so much, and knowing today what was about to transpire in her life, did she have a feeling of impending doom?

Enter the song, “I Should Have Said”.  In the show Emma sings just as Joseph leaves for Carthage.  She sings half to herself and half as a prayer to God.  She wonders if she should have said something else to Joseph.  Intermittently, the ensemble sings the names of her deceased children as they are on her mind.  Emma pleads with the Lord to not be left alone.   Eventually, she submits her will to the Lord’s will and the ensemble sing one final refrain adding Joseph to the list of family members she lost all too young.

Before Joseph left for Carthage, Emma requested that he give her a priesthood blessing.  Much was being demanded of him that last afternoon in Nauvoo.  Joseph suggested that she write the blessing herself and upon his return from Carthage, he would pronounce the blessing upon her.  The last sentence of that blessing was surely needed for the coming days:

"Finally, I desire that whatever may be my lot through life I may be enabled to acknowledge the hand of God in all things."

ACT III - Song 17 - I Should Have Said

As Emma tries to get baptized, her Aunt and Uncle try to disrupt the service.  Joseph casts a devil out of Newel Knight. Joseph is arrested for disturbing the peace because he preaches from the Book of Mormon.

Dancing With The Devil

Emma's Uncle, Nathaniel Lewis (and Methodist minister) tries to talk Emma out of associating herself with Joseph Smith.  Emma stands firm in her convictions.

The Cost of Faith

Main Theme from Ram Loevy’s documentary film The Games They Play (2010)
Music composed, arranged, and produced by Amit Poznansky
Violin performed by Adrian Justus
In loving memory of Ram Loevy (1940–2025)

The Games They Play — Main Theme (from Ram Loevy’s Film)

From the Album "Light and Dark" (HYM 103)

Light & Dark

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Johannes Brahms: Intermezzo, op. 118, no. 2 | Hagai Yodan, piano

Counterclockwise - נגד סיבוב השעון | by Rami Levin (b. 1956)

* World Premiere Recording *

| The Israeli Contemporary Music Project

Rami Levin: Counterclockwise | Hagai Yodan, piano

Evening's Serenity (2020) שלוות ערב
by Rafi Kadishson (b. 1953)

* World Premiere Recording *

| The Israeli Contemporary Music Project

Rafi Kadishson: Evening's Serenity | Hagai Yodan, piano

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Amit

The Games They Play — Main Theme (from Ram Loevy’s Film)

Amit Poznansky

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