Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Library Sigla and Abbreviations
- Guide to Harvard University and Oberlin College Collections Referenced by Box Number
- Preface: Gateway to a Career
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter I Family History and Formative Years
- Chapter II Undergraduate Study at Harvard College (1916-20)
- Chapter III Lessons with Ernest Bloch and Graduate Study at Harvard University (1920-22)
- Chapter IV Damrosch Fellowship Years at the American Academy in Rome (1922-25)
- Chapter V Courtship and Marriage (1925-27)
- Chapter VI New York City—Wellesley College—A Guggenheim Fellowship (1927-31)
- Chapter VII Guest Conducting, Reception of Symphony no. 2, and College Music: An Investigation (1931-35)
- Chapter VIII Life after College Music: An Investigation (1935-37)
- Chapter IX The University of California at Berkeley (1937-39)
- Chapter X Curtis Institute of Music: The Hiring Process (Spring and Summer 1939)
- Chapter XI Curtis Institute (Fall 1939-Spring 1941)
- Chapter XII The University of Virginia (Fall 1941-Spring 1945)
- Chapter XIII Princeton University (Fall 1945-Spring 1948)
- Chapter XIV Return of a Favored Son: Harvard University (Fall 1948-Spring (1957)
- Chapter XV Harvard University (Summer 1957 to July 1, 1965)
- Chapter XVI The Early Retirement Years (1965-75)
- Chapter XVII The Final Years (1975-84)
- Chapter XVIII Recapitulation and Coda
- Bibliography of Works Cited by Abbreviations
- Index
Chapter XV - Harvard University (Summer 1957 to July 1, 1965)
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Library Sigla and Abbreviations
- Guide to Harvard University and Oberlin College Collections Referenced by Box Number
- Preface: Gateway to a Career
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter I Family History and Formative Years
- Chapter II Undergraduate Study at Harvard College (1916-20)
- Chapter III Lessons with Ernest Bloch and Graduate Study at Harvard University (1920-22)
- Chapter IV Damrosch Fellowship Years at the American Academy in Rome (1922-25)
- Chapter V Courtship and Marriage (1925-27)
- Chapter VI New York City—Wellesley College—A Guggenheim Fellowship (1927-31)
- Chapter VII Guest Conducting, Reception of Symphony no. 2, and College Music: An Investigation (1931-35)
- Chapter VIII Life after College Music: An Investigation (1935-37)
- Chapter IX The University of California at Berkeley (1937-39)
- Chapter X Curtis Institute of Music: The Hiring Process (Spring and Summer 1939)
- Chapter XI Curtis Institute (Fall 1939-Spring 1941)
- Chapter XII The University of Virginia (Fall 1941-Spring 1945)
- Chapter XIII Princeton University (Fall 1945-Spring 1948)
- Chapter XIV Return of a Favored Son: Harvard University (Fall 1948-Spring (1957)
- Chapter XV Harvard University (Summer 1957 to July 1, 1965)
- Chapter XVI The Early Retirement Years (1965-75)
- Chapter XVII The Final Years (1975-84)
- Chapter XVIII Recapitulation and Coda
- Bibliography of Works Cited by Abbreviations
- Index
Summary
What would be the good of writing a choral
piece that only professionals could sing?
(Randall Thompson)
With Ode to the Virginian Voyage successfully performed in early April 1957, his son Whitney and daughter Varney happily married in late June, and his chairman's duties completed on July 1st, Thompson looked forward to a much-needed sabbatical that began and ended with summer stays abroad. During the first summer he resided once again at Gstaad's Park Hotel from early July through the 28th. “Switzerland is fine as ever. I begin to feel like a new man,” he wrote to recording engineer H. Vos Greenough. He also wrote to his godson Benjamin Fairbank providing him a glimpse of Gstaad and his routine.
… my room faces a tall, tall mountain covered with perennial snow. In the foreground are lovely green fields. They are really hayfields but they look as if they were cut with a lawnmower every day… .
Everybody works so hard from dawn to dusk, looks so well and seems so happy. No problems, no rush… .
Every day I take a picnic lunch down to my studio, in a pink paper bag. It contains buttered bread and rolls, a leg & a wing of chicken, 2 slices of salami; tongue, roast beef, pork or veal, and 2 or 3 slices of bologna sausage; a hard boiled egg, a pear, apricots, and a peach, some cookies, a different kind of cheese daily and a small bar of Swiss Chocolate. T's enough for two mountain climbers and a guide, so I set aside ¾'s of it and give it to my landlady for her little grandson, whose name is Peterli. He doesn't understand anything but Swiss-German, but he shakes hands with me every day even if he's playing games with friends when I come by.
Do you get a tiny picture of what it's like here?
While there he composed a song entitled The Passenger (RT 82), after which he spent time relaxing and travelling. Once returned to Cambridge on Sep¬tember 29th he devoted the fall and winter to composing an extensive a cap¬pella Requiem (RT 83). As he later told a Harvard Crimson reporter:
I had a sabbatical in 1957-8 and my friends assumed that I had left town for the winter.
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- The Road Not TakenA Documented Biography of Randall Thompson, 1899–1984, pp. 673 - 774Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2018