Fanfare - The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors
July/August 1999
Volume 22, Number 6
There seems to be a critical divide over the music of Randall Thompson, the centenary of whose birth falls this year (and the 50th anniversary of his death, as it happens). Some find him a bit too homespun to join the ranks of the
academically respectable; others respond directly to the open manner and patent sincerity of his music. I'm happy to admit I fall squarely in the second category, and I enjoyed this disc enormously.
The notes, by Michael O'Neal, founder
of the two choruses here that bear his name (the 36-voice Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers being drawn from the 150-voice full chorus), quote Thompson on his belief that "A composer's first
responsibility is, and always will be, to write music that will reach and move the hearts of the listeners in his own day". Thompson's amiably predictable rhythms and unabashed diatonic harmonies
posed little problems for his listeners, and I imagine they will continue to charm and to move listeners in the centuries to come. This tour d'horizon of his choral music presents works in a variety of styles, from the quiet faith of
his popular Alleluia of 1940 (it has a calm intensity that reminds me of Russian Orthodox church music), through the folky Frostiana: Seven Country Songs (first performed in 1959 - not 1949, as O'Neal's notes claim), to the broad,
unabashed patriotism (not too PC a sentiment these days) of the wartime Jefferson settings of The Testament of Freedom (here with organ accompaniment, by the way, just as Frostiana, which was orchestrated in
1965, is done with piano; you'll find both works in their full orchestral garb on Koch 37283-2).
The performances brim with earnestness: These singers obviously care an enormous amount about what they're doing. But sometimes I wonder whether
they're trying too hard - though the intonation is generally secure, on occasion they produce a sour chord or two (try the male-voice "The Pasture" from Frostiana if you don't believe me, and note the slightly odd acoustic of
the piano). The tendency to strain at climaxes is particularly evident in the more demanding The Peaceable Kingdom, which is a cappella - it's a wonderful piece, though. And the choral sound is not particularly well groomed: The
textures tend to fray here and there. Still, these are only intermittent weaknesses, and they won't much diminish your enjoyment of the whole. One
last small point. The cover design, divided into quarters, looks like a straight takeoff of the standard Argo pattern; were the folk at ACA trying to hitch a
ride on the petticoat tails of the elder sister? After all, choral music is one of Argo's specialties. If it's coincidence, it's a bit odd; and if not, it's a bit naughty.
Recommended.
Martin Anderson
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