The Testament of Freedom
by Randall Thompson
While he was Chairman of the Music Department at the University of Virginia, Randall Thompson wrote The Testament of Freedom in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth. Appropriately, Thompson used Jefferson's own writings to affirm the concepts of life and liberty.
The work premiered on April 13, 1943, during the height of World War II, and was sung by the University Glee Club under the direction of Stephen Tuttle, with Randall Thompson at the piano. Although Thompson composed it as a work for the occasion, the opportunity was taken to project an uplifting message about the country in wartime. CBS broadcast the performance nationwide, and the Office of War Information transmitted the program over shortwave radio for troops overseas.
The four movements, of which we perform the first and last, are based upon a melody of five notes that rythmically spell the name "Thomas Jefferson" ... similar to the use of B-A-C-H. The work begins and ends acknowledging the God who gave us life.
Lyrics
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