VOCES8: Alleluia by Randall Thompson

VOCES8 sings Randall Thompson’s 'Alleluia' at the VOCES8 Centre in London.

'Alleluia' is one of the great landmarks of American choral music. Written in 1940 for the opening of the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, Thompson was originally asked by Serge Koussevitzky to compose a celebratory choral fanfare.

Instead, with war consuming Europe, he created something altogether more contemplative. From a text consisting almost entirely of a single word, the music unfolds slowly, moving throug