Randall Thompson: Requiem

This comment from conductor David Hayes is the best possible description of this album and composer, and why it is important: "Randall Thompson's name is virtually synonymous with American Choral Music. From compositions like Frostiana, The Testament of Freedom and The Peaceable Kingdom to the iconic Alleluia - his music forms part of the core repertory of choruses of all shapes and sizes. And yet, one of his greatest choral works, one that could easily be considered his masterpiece, is virtually unknown to American choruses and their audiences - his Requiem. After giving one of only a handful of complete performances in the over fifty-year history of the work, and the first performances ever by a professional chorus, The Philadelphia Singers set out to reclaim Thompson's Requiem as a vital and important part of the American choral canon by creating a recording that would help choral leaders and choruses as well as the larger concert going public become aware of its great beauty and power. It is our fervent hope that Randall Thompson's Requiem, a neglected masterpiece, will finally earn a place in the repertory of choruses everywhere."