Download Music of Randall Thompson

Music Notes
by Dr. Stan McDaniel
Randall Thompson,
America’s Choral Master of the 20th Century
Three works by Randall Thompson will be featured in our 2015 Fall Concert: “Alleluia”
(1940), “The Last Words of David” (1949), and “The Testament of Freedom” (1943).
Arguably the greatest American choral composer of the 20th
century, Ira Randall Thompson (1899 – 1984) was born in
New York City. His forebears and heart, however, were
rooted in New England. As a student at Harvard University,
Thompson came under the tutelage of Archibald T. Davison,
director of the Harvard Glee Club and a prominent composer,
arranger, and editor for the music publisher E. C. Schirmer.
Davison recognized Thompson’s artistic and creative
originality as a composer early on and became his mentor.
Thompson went on to win the Damrosch Fellowship to study
at the American Academy in Rome in 1922. Beginning in 1927, he began a long career,
teaching, performing, composing, and conducting – first at Wellesley College, then the
Univerity of California/Berkeley, the University of Virginia, Princeton. And the Curtis
School of Music. In 1948 he joined the faculty of his alma mater, Harvard, and remained
there until his retirement in 1965.
One thing becomes immediately apparent when leafing through any Thompson choral
score. For him, choice of text was perhaps the most critical decision a composer makes.
Nearly all of his music was text-driven. He chose neither to write in the sentimental style
of composers of the previous century or to adopt the radical and abstract styles of some of
his contemporaries. “Good texts for choral music,” he wrote, “must be based on a
universality of appeal… After choosing a text, sing it to yourself a thousand ways until you
latch onto a tune. Let the tune and the words develop the form.” Since Thompson’s choral
music is text driven, the rhythm is completely subservient to the text. Changing meters are
common, but in the end his music supports and declaims the text with a clarity and power
few other composers have matched.
All three of these works bear an interesting connection to the Boston Symphony and its
great conductor, Serge Kousesevitsky. “Alleluia” was commissioned by Koussevitsky to be
a “fanfare-like” choral piece to open the new Berkshire Music Center. Instead of the bold
and brilliant piece Koussevitsky had in mind, Thompson produced this quiet and
introspective work which, to this day, is his most famous and often performed composition.
“The Last Words of David” was commissioned in 1949 in honor of the 25th anniversary of
Serge Koussevitsy’s tenure as conductor of the Boston Symphony. It is a perfect example
of Thompson’s care in choice of text. Drawn from II Samuel 23:3-4, it speaks to the
universal need for justice, honesty, courage, and purity of motive among leaders of people –
a timeless message.
“The Testament of Freedom”, originally scored for male voices and piano and later
transcribed by Thompson himself for mixed voices and orchestra, was written for the Glee
Club of the University of Virginia in commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of
Thomas Jefferson. It was premiered at UVA in April of 1943. Because of its uplifting
message for the nation, then in the midst of World War II, the premier was broadcast
nationwide on CBS radio and transmitted via shortwave radio to our troops overseas. On
April 14, 1945, “The Testament of Freedom” was chosen to conclude the Boston
Symphony’s concert in memory of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who had died just
two days earlier.
The work is in four movements, each a setting of writings from Thomas Jefferson. This
work, while depicting Jefferson’s militant views on individual liberty was not intended to
trumpet patriotic jingoism. Thompson carefully chooses Jefferson’s writings from 1774
and 1775, before the Declaration of Independence, which address the grievances of the
colonies and their desire for peace. The concept of individual liberty did not originate with
Jefferson. It was a significant part of the philosophy of the Enlightenment period going
back to the 16th century. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “Common Sense”, published in January
1776, was the most widely read publication in the American colonies. The first section of
“Common Sense” elucidates the same mindset inspiring Jefferson in his writings:
1. “Society” is the natural inclination of human beings to live and work together to
have a productive and fruitful existence. The natural state of humanity is to be free
to live in harmony with others without the interference of government.
2. Government is the unfortunate byproduct of humanity’s inability to coexist without
some external enforcement of “rules”.
While necessary, the less government
needed, the better.
That debate about government and how much is needed – big government/small government
– continues to this day. As it should!
First movement, “The God Who Gave Us Life.” Text: “The God who gave us life gave us
liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.” From A
Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774). Background: Jefferson wrote his
Summary View to be presented to the Second Continental Congress and expresses his view
that he and his forebears went out from Britain to populate an unsettled wilderness, wholly
independent of British leadership and financial support and, therefore, should not be held
accountable to the King for taxes and tributes. Jefferson writes, he says, “To remind him
that our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the free inhabitants of the
British dominions in Europe, and possessed a right which nature has given to all men, of
departing from the country in which chance, not choice, has placed them, of going in quest
of new habitations, and of there establishing new societies, under such laws and
regulations as to them shall seem most likely to promote public happiness. That their Saxon
ancestors had, under this universal law, in like manner left their native wilds and woods in
the north of Europe, had possessed themselves of the island of Britain, then less charged
with inhabitants, and had established there that system of laws which has so long been the
glory and protection of that country.” At the time Jefferson’s view were regarded as
radical, and the congress took a more moderate course, hoping to avoid war.
Second Movement, “We Have Counted the Cost.” Text. “We have counted the cost of this
contest and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. Honor, justice, and humanity
forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors,
and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the
infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitable
awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them.
Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great… We gratefully
acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favor towards us, that His Providence would
not permit us to be called into this severe controversy until we are grown up to our present
strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the means
of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most ly,
before God and the world, declare that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers which
our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been
compelled by our enemies to assume we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating
firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one
mind resolved to die free men rather than live slaves. (from Declaration of Causes and
Necessity of Taking Up Arms (July 6, 1775).
Background: Again Jefferson is writing to the Second Continental Congress whose inability
to act he finds maddening. Reading the document in its entirety, one finds Jefferson not
seeking independence from Britain. That would, of course, come a year later with the
Declaration of Independence. He speaks of the colonists being prepared to fight and the
experience they had gained from being forced to fight in British conflicts in the past (ie. The
French and Indian War). Hostilities between the British and colonists had already taken
place(Battle of Lexington and Concord and Battle of Bunker Hill were both earlier that
spring.), and so he writes of fellow colonists, “They have taken up arms in defense of the
Freedom that is our Birthright and which we ever enjoyed until the late Violation of it", and
will "lay them down when Hostilities shall cease on the part of the Aggressors".
Third Movement: “We Fight Not for Glory or for Conquest”. Text: “We fight not for glory
or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by
unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offense. They boast of
their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or
death.
In our native land, in defense of the freedom that is our birthright and which we ever
enjoyed till the late violation of it; for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the
honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves; against violence actually offered; we have
taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the
aggressors and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before.” (from
Declaration of Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (July 6, 1775).
Background: Again, Jefferson reflects the notion that the colonists seek simply to live in
peace and have the freedom to govern themselves, not to break their bonds with Great
Britain. But if war is required to achieve this, they are prepared to fight.
Fourth Movement: “I Shall Not Die Without a Hope.” Text: “I shall not die without a hope
that light and liberty are on a steady advance… And even should the cloud of barbarism and
despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this country remains to
preserve and restore light and liberty to them… The flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776,
have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of
despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.”
(Letter to John Adams, Monticello, September 12, 1821)
Background: Written near the end of his life, Jefferson here reflects on the legacy of the
American Revolution and the cause of liberty – a fitting benediction to the entire work. It is
useful to read the entire passage from which the above text is drawn: “Yet I will not believe
our labors are lost. I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady
advance. We have seen, indeed, once within the records of history, a complete eclipse of the
human mind continuing for centuries. And this, too, by swarms of the same northern
barbarians, conquering and taking possession of the countries and governments of the
civilized world. Should this be again attempted, should the same northern hordes, allured
again by the corn, wine, and oil of the south, be able again to settle their swarms in the
countries of their growth, the art of printing alone, and the vast dissemination of books, will
maintain the mind where it is, and raise the conquering ruffians to the level of the
conquered, instead of degrading these to that of their conquerors. And even should the
cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this
country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty to them. In short, the flames
kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished
by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and
all who work them.....”
As previously noted, this a text-driven work, Thompson’s musical setting of these profound
words is masterful in every way. He captures beautifully Jefferson’s passion for individual
liberty, the peril of the times, and the militant determination of the colonists. Through the
music also, Thompson evokes un-stated but no less important factors: The hymn-like
opening theme, which reappears throughout and unifies the entire work, suggests the
“sacredness” which Jefferson felt for this cause. Note also the shifts in dynamics and
harmonic color following closely the emotional content of the text, and Thompson’s
mastery of prosody, allowing the rhythms and accentuation to match perfectly Jefferson’s
words, always enhancing their meaning and never overshadowing it. [Note: The version of
“The Testament of Freedom” to be performed by NWSMC uses Randol Bass’s 2010
transcription of Thompson’s original orchestration for brass and organ.]