MC Singers • Songs of Thanksgiving Virtual Concert
Sunday, November 15, 2020
© 1968 E. C. Schirmer, No. 1786
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Randall Thompson's "Alleluia" is unique among the settings of this text because its mood, contrary to expectation, is not joyful. It was premiered on July 8, 1940. Thompson explained its unusual nature somewhat later, noting that the fall of France to the Nazis just weeks before he wrote the work had dampened his spirits:

"The music in my particular Alleluia cannot be made to sound joyous…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.'"

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