MICHAEL HAYDN’S ‘LAUDATE PUERI’
16 May 2022
MENDELSSOHN’S ‘RICHTE MICH, GOTT’
18 May 2022
RANDALL THOMPSON'S 'ALLELUIA'
Randall Thompson (1899 – 1984)
The noted American composer Randall Thompson influenced a generation. He studied at Harvard University and would go on to become Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at Wellesley College, and receive a Doctorate in Music from the University of Rochester. He famously taught a young Leonard Bernstein (legendary international conductor and composer of works such as 'West Side Story') at both Harvard and the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. He worked across a number of genres, including the writing of three symphonies and two operas, but is particularly remembered for his choral works.
Randall Thompson had vast influence on the development of choral music for tenor-bass ensembles. In 1964, he became the first recipient of the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit to celebrate this fact. 'Alleluia' has become one of the most important pieces in the repertoire of The Vocal Consort. They have performed it many times over successive generations and are thrilled to be performing it in two magnificent acoustics in both Bendigo and Melbourne as part of our 'Sing Joyfully' concerts this season.
Interestingly, this piece only has two words: "Alleluia" and "Amen" (which is only sung once at the very end). Despite this, the work makes a tremendous impact through it's harmonic language which is sometimes tense, sometimes serene, and at the very core of things, extremely profound.
The original version of this piece is for SATB choir (you can listen to an excerpt at the start of the clip below performed by the outstanding British ensemble Polyphony), but it will be featured in the striking version for tenor-bass ensemble in these performances.
The work first performed on 8 July 1940 for the formal opening of the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood). Serge Koussevitsky, festival founder and music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, asked Randall Thompson to write a celebratory “fanfare” for voices. However, in the summer of 1940, armies were marching through Europe, and by the end of June, France had fallen to the Nazi regime.
Under the circumstances, Thompson considered a festive piece to be inappropriate. The “fanfare” that he was asked to write instead became an introspective prayer. He wrote that 'Alleluia' is: "...a very sad piece. The word “Alleluia” has so many possible interpretations. The music in my particular Alleluia cannot be made to sound joyous. It is a slow, sad piece, and…here it is comparable to the Book of Job, where it is written, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The Vocal Consort have performed and recorded the piece on numerous occasions. It is Randall Thompson's most widely-appreciated work.
Sing Joyfully Concert Details
Saturday 19th August at Sacred Heart Cathedral Bendigo | Sunday 20th August at St. Patrick's Cathedral Melbourne
Also live-streamed on the Australian Digital Concert Hall platform. World-wide digital access, including 72-hour delayed viewing.
To learn more about the exciting concerts and events planned for 2023,
please see
www.australianboyschoir.com.au/concerts
Members of the Australian Boys Choir and The Vocal Consort onstage at Melbourne Recital Centre with Artistic Director Nicholas Dinopoulos, December 2022. Photo by Jane Kupsch.
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