Born in New York, NY, April 21, 1899
Died in Cambridge, MA, July 9, 1984
- Thompson’s teachers included Ernest Bloch and Francesco Malipiero. He won a Prix de Rome in 1922.1
- When he was a student at Harvard, Thompson was failed his audition for the Glee Club. Regarding this rejection, Thompson said, “My life has been an attempt to strike back.”2
- Thompson had a long and distinguished teaching career, at institutions including UC Berkeley, the Julliard School (where he taught Leonard Bernstein), and Harvard University.3
- Thompson is best known for his choral works, which include both sacred and secular motets and cantatas, a Requiem, and a Mass. His choral music is often influenced by historical styles, ranging from Renaissance polyphony to American shape-note singing. His oeuvre also includes three symphonies, a radio opera and chamber works.4
Sources
- Frederic Woodbridge Wilson and David Francis Urrows, “Thompson, (Ira) Randall,” Grove Music Online (January 31, 2014), accessed July 9, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002258527.
- Elliot Forbes, “Randall Thompson: Brief Life of a Choral Composer, 1899-1984,” Harvard Magazine (July 1, 2001), accessed July 9, 2021, https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2001/07/randall-thompson.html.
- Wilson and Urrows, “Thompson, (Ira) Randall,” Grove Music Online.
- Ibid.