Alleluia

My introduction to this piece by Randall Thompson was as a member of my high school's a cappella choir my senior year. Although the sheetmusic has a piano accompaniment, it notes that it is for rehearsal only. And so after hours of memorizing our parts - eleven pages - and rehearsing for refinement, we performed it at choir festivals with great success.

The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky, director of the Tanglewood Music Festival. Koussevitzky wanted a fanfare for voices to celebrate the opening of the new Berkshire Music Center and asked Thompson to contribute such a piece. Thompson took only five days to complete the composition during the first week of July 1940 and was premiered the following week, on July 8, at the opening of festival's new music center.

However, instead of the joyous work expected by Koussevitzky, Thompson produced a quiet and introspective piece. Troubled by the war in Europe and the recent fall of France, he felt that to write a festive piece would be inappropriate. Commenting on his composition, Thompson said that it 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.'"

Alleluia