RANDALL THOMPSON: The Peaceable Kingdom; Alleluia; The Last Invocation; Mass of the Holy Spirit; Fare Well – Schola Cantorum of Oxford/ James Burton, conductor – Hyperion CDA67679, 77:02 ***** [Distr. by Harmonia mundi]:
Randall Thompson is surely one of the most beloved choral composers in the entire world. His simplicity of style and ability to affect great emotional outpouring within the confines of a very traditional and diatonic tonal setting is unmistakably one of the marks of his genius. So it is good to see the very fine Schola Cantorum of Oxford dig into these works with such relish and enthusiasm, displaying an obvious love for this music, and cementing the idea of Thompson’s universal appeal.
There may be no more famous unaccompanied choral work than the Alleluia, created at the onset of the United State’s entry into WWII in 1941. This 1940 work uses only the one Greek word as text, but does so in a somber, ghostly, and yet vastly uplifting and hopeful context. It is impossible to not be moved by it in almost any performance, especially one so adroit and lovingly shaped as here. Though I retain my allegiance to the Harvard University Choir on an early 1990s Northeastern recording, this one certainly gives it a run for its money.
The main selection on this disc is The Peaceable Kingdom, a selection of sacred choruses that manifest the trademark Thompson style. His Mass of the Holy Spirit is a little more adventurous; perhaps the idea of such a bare-boned liturgical production inspired him to economize in certain places and be more fertilely florid in others. To me it is not quite as convincing as his other music, often inspired by biblical and other texts that seem to cultivate his imagination. The two anthems The Last Invocation and Fare Well are based on poetry by Walt Whitman and Walter de la Mare, written 50 years apart (The Whitman is earlier) yet stylistically remarkably similar, and both very affecting. This is a terrific album of wonderful music, and should fill the gap in your choral and/or Thompson collection.
— Steven Ritter
