# Diamond and Thompson

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/diamond-and-thompson
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/diamond-and-thompson.md
Podcast: [Composers Datebook](https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176)
Published: 2026-07-09T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VnCzW2iO9G8z4eDWfXCd/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/07/09/datebook_20260709_128.mp3
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VnCzW2iO9G8z4eDWfXCd/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/07/09/datebook_20260709_128.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/composers-datebook-550176/episodes/diamond-and-thompson
Duration seconds: 120

## Resource

Synopsis Today we note the birth and death anniversaries of two American composers of the 20th century. On today’s date in 1915, American composer David Diamond was born in Rochester, New York. In 1940, Dmitri Mitropoulos, then the music director of the Minneapolis Symphony commissioned one of his best-known works. He had specifically asked Diamond for an upbeat piece of music. “Write me a happy work,” he asked. “These are distressing times ... make me happy!” The 29-year-old composer responded with his popular Rounds for String Orchestra , which Mitropoulos premiered in Minneapolis in 1944. Also on today’s date, in 1984, the American composer and teacher Randall Thompson died in Boston at 85. Randall Thompson wrote three symphonies and some fine chamber works, but his best-known piece of music is this choral setting of Allelujah which was first performed at the opening of the Berkshire Music Center at Lenox, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1940, when Thompson was 41 years old. “[My Alleujah is] a very sad piece,” said Thompson. “Here it is comparable to the Book of Job, where it is written, ‘The Lord giveth and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’” Music Played in Today's Program David Diamond (1915-2005): Rounds ; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Nonesuch 79002 Randall Thompson (1899-1984): Alleluia ; Robert Shaw Chamber Singers; Robert Shaw, conductor; Telarc 80461

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