# This Barber Guy from America



## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

Recently caught a thread about favorite American Composers and this name came up again and again. I love Ives and Chadwick and certainly later Copland. So why do people gravitate to this guy and what is required listening both work and conductor ? Appreciate you all!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Colin M said:


> Recently caught a thread about favorite American Composers and this name came up again and again. I love Ives and Chadwick and certainly later Copland. So why do people gravitate to this guy and what is required listening both work and conductor ? Appreciate you all!


Samuel Barber: Not as great as Copland or Schuman, IMHO, but quite respectable.

His most famous work is the very moving Adagio for Strings, wheeled out for funerals.

His greatest composition, IMO is Knoxville, Summer of 1915, a song cycle for soprano and orchestra. Try to hear Dawn Upshaw singing it.

His Violin Concerto is quite fine; his piano concerto, a bit less so. There is a fine Isaac Stern performance of the Violin Concerto with Leonard Bernstein conducting the NY Philharmonic.
For the Piano Concerto, give a listen to John Browning with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

His Essays For Orchestra are worth a listen, particularly if you can find the Thomas Schippers recordings.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Plus, his opera "Anthony and Cleopatra" (which I don't know) was written expressly for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center and was completely overshadowed by the failure of the new Met's stage turntable and other technical claptrap that was not yet ready for opening night prime time.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

The only thing I really like from Barber is his Violin Concerto. For me there is no ideal recording of this. But I have the Shaham and Previn, and also the Alsop Naxos recording. His Adagio on string quartet is also stirring stuff (I like the quartet version rather than the string orchestra version). Don't have any recordings of the quartet version.


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

The opening of _Knoxville, Summer of 1915_ is one of the most memorable pieces in the American repertoire. Just stunning I think.

BTW, Rosanna Danna Danna thinks he makes nice coins too.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Room2201974 said:


> The opening of _Knoxville, Summer of 1915_ is one of the most memorable pieces in the American repertoire. Just stunning I think.
> 
> BTW, Rosanna Danna Danna thinks he makes nice coins too.


Yes. Barber outdid himself with Knoxville.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Colin M said:


> Recently caught a thread about favorite American Composers and this name came up again and again. I love Ives and Chadwick and certainly later Copland. So why do people gravitate to this guy and what is required listening both work and conductor ? Appreciate you all!


As some respondents above, I like his Violin Concerto and Adagio for strings the most. To that I'd add the langorous Summer Music for Wind Quintet and the more spiky Piano Sonata.

You can also try the Essays for orchestra as noted above, the School for Scandal Overture, Medea's Dance of Vengeance (another more modernist leaning piece) and other solo piano music (Excursions and Souveniers). The early Cello Sonata is very much like Brahms.

If you end up liking Barber, you might try William Walton, a Brit who is also labelled as a major Neo-Romantic of the period.



MarkW said:


> Plus, his opera "Anthony and Cleopatra" (which I don't know) was written expressly for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center and was completely overshadowed by the failure of the new Met's stage turntable and other technical claptrap that was not yet ready for opening night prime time.


Some critics savaged it too. Barber's response to serialism was seen as old hat by that time. Nevertheless, the two arias recorded by Leontyne Price (Give me some music & Give me my robe) prove emotionally arresting, even to an operaphobe like me. She also recorded Knoxville and a selection of songs with the composer on piano.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A couple of notes on Barber:

His popular neo-romantic violin concerto went some years without a finale. When he finally wrote one, it was in a quite different idiom -- hard-edged, modernist, and quite virtuosic. He got a lot of static over that. Today it sounds pretty impressive!

His Adagio for Strings, as noted, is powerful funeral music. I believe that tradition started with the death of Franklin Roosevelt. Originally a movement of a string quartet, it is certainly a perfect example of its type.

The much later piano concerto, mentioned above, has a knockout slow movement.

In general, Barber never developed (or aimed for) any kind of “American” sound. He was happy to be a sort of old-world composer.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I like and respect Barber's music, if I don't quite love it. The violin concerto and Vanessa I enjoy quite a bit. The overture to School for Scandal is pretty good, too, and it gets played a lot. Unfortunately, a lot of his music lacks that certain pizzazz to really make it stand out. The Essays for orchestra are just not that thrilling. Of course Barber was writing in a style that was quite opposed to what most composers were doing, but his work isn't strong enough to challenge them. At least a couple of things will stay in the repertoire, but that's about it.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2018)

This is probably my favourite Barber work. I doubt 'neo-romantic' is an adequate term for this composer, as the neo-romantic movement only really began some time after (and in some sort of response to) the high modernism of the 50s and 60s.






Perhaps, due to both the dates and the style of music that it is, Barber might be better described as a neo-classical composer?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

KenOC said:


> In general, Barber never developed (or aimed for) any kind of "American" sound. He was happy to be a sort of old-world composer.


And yet it's impossible to imagine his music coming from anywhere but America. A Romantic spirit was strong in 20th-century American music before WW II, mixed with the neoclassicism that came out of Nadia Boulanger's studio, taking a nationalistic form in Copland, and colored by other European influences from Italy and Scandinavia. I think Barber was probably the purest representative of modern American Romanticism among first-rank composers of his generation, unabashedly emotional, incorporating the dissonant harmony, irregular rhythms and bright colors of contemporary music, but undiverted by either conscious nationalism or academic serialism.

No one has yet mentioned his major opera _Vanessa_, never a repertory staple but a fine, moving work available on CD with the soprano who premiered it at the Met, Eleanor Steber. Barber's vocal music in general is distinguished, including a setting of Matthew Arnold's _Dover Beach_ for baritone and string quartet (in which we can hear Barber's own beautiful baritone voice), the much-loved _Knoxville_ (I favor Leontyne Price, whose dusky tone and accent impart a real southern flavor), a dramatic scene for soprano and orchestra called _Andromache's Farewell,_ and many superb songs.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

(deleted) ……………………....


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Room2201974 said:


> The opening of _Knoxville, Summer of 1915_ is one of the most memorable pieces in the American repertoire. Just stunning I think.
> 
> BTW, Rosanna Danna Danna thinks he makes nice coins too.


It has become that time of evening when people sit on their porches.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

For me, Barber's greatest works are his Violin Concerto, Adagio for Strings (which began as a movement in his String Quartet, and was later developed into an orchestral work--its best known version, and then arranged as a choral work, Agnus Dei), the "Knoxville, Summer of 1915" song cycle (based on a text by James Agee), The School for Scandal Overture, and the First Essay for Orchestra. Barber's lesser known final composition--Canzonetta, for Oboe & String Orchestra, Op. 48 is worth hearing too. In addition, if you wish to go further, I'd suggest Barber's Symphonies 1 & 2, and his 2nd & 3rd Essays for Orchestra; along with his Piano and Cello Concertos, and Piano Sonata, op. 26 and Excursions, Op. 20, for solo piano, and Souvenirs, Op. 20, for two pianos (or four-hands, or solo piano).

My recommended recordings:

1. Violin Concerto--The elegiac Andante movement from Barber's Violin Concerto is one of the most deeply moving pieces of music I know. For me, the recording by violinist Elmar Oliveira and the St. Louis S.O, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, stands out above all others: https://www.amazon.com/Hanson-Symph...=1536340881&sr=1-5&keywords=barber+symphony+2. Oliveira has no equal in the 2nd movement, IMO--which he plays to perfection. Gil Shaham (with Previn) and Joshua Bell (with Zinman) are excellent too. I wasn't as keen on Hilary Hahn's recording, & hope she'll re-record it one day. In comparison, I dislike Isaac Stern in this music, and was disgusted to hear the story of how he managed to steal the work's premiere away from violinist Aaron Rosand, who was Leonard Bernstein's first choice for its premiere in 1960; which was, by various accounts, typical of Stern (Bernstein later apologized to Rosand): http://slippedisc.com/2014/07/high-...accuses-isaac-stern-of-sabotaging-his-career/. To my knowledge, Rosand has never recorded the work.

Note that there have been several reissues of the Oliveira recording (I'd suggest the EMI double forte issue--unless you want the original Howard Hanson coupling):

https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Strin...r=1-5&keywords=barber+slatkin+violin+concerto
https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Strin...1536340881&sr=1-10&keywords=barber+symphony+2














2. Adagio for Strings (orchestral version): the recording by Thomas Schippers is a classic (as are all of Schippers' Barber recordings): https://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Barbe...D=51CtxMZ9gIL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail . Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Andrew Schenck, and Leonard Bernstein (on DG) are all very good in this work too, if you want digital sound.

3. Adagio for Strings (String Quartet version): the Emerson Quartet: https://www.amazon.com/Ives-Barber-...340238&sr=1-1&keywords=emerson+quartet+barber. The Chester String Quartet is very good in this music too: https://www.amazon.com/Chester-Stri...343900&sr=8-20&keywords=barber+string+quartet. In addition, Quatour Diotima provides an interesting, less romantic alternative view of the work: 




4. "Knoxville, Summer of 1915": the 1950 premiere with soprano Eleanor Steber and Thomas Schippers conducting is a classic: https://www.amazon.com/Knoxville-Su...=1-3&keywords=knoxville+summer+of+1915+barber. Leontyne Price did another classic version in 1968, also with Schippers: https://www.amazon.com/Leontyne-Pri...6340277&sr=1-2&keywords=leontyne+price+barber. (Price is also wonderful in Barber's Hermit Songs, which she premiered.) Among digital versions, Dawn Upshaw (with Zinman) is probably a first choice, but Karina Gauvin (with Alsop), and Sylvia McNair (with Yoel Levi) are good too.

5. The School for Scandal Overture: my first choice is Thomas Schippers' wonderful Columbia recording; however, Leonard Slatkin is excellent in this music too, if you want a digital version:

https://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Barbe...40625&sr=1-2&keywords=thomas+schippers+barber
https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Strin...340662&sr=1-7&keywords=Leonard+slatkin+barber
https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Music...340662&sr=1-2&keywords=Leonard+slatkin+barber

6. First Essay for Orchestra: again, I'd recommend either Schippers or Slatkin. The fine American conductor Andrew Schenck, who championed Barber's music in New Zealand & Chicago (& sadly passed away of skin cancer at aged 51 in 1992), is idiomatic too. Schenck made the first recording of Barber's "The Lovers", for his Barber series on the Koch label, which came coupled with the composer's little known "Prayers of Kierkegaard" (which Charles Munch also recorded--both works are worth hearing). (By the way, Schenck was a conducting student of Pierre Monteux & Bernstein's: http://www.bruceduffie.com/schenck.html.)

7. Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2: Marin Alsop's recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is supposed to be excellent, & won awards from the British rags: https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Orche...=1536340881&sr=1-1&keywords=barber+symphony+2. I don't know it, but have heard Alsop conduct Barber live, and she has a natural affinity for his music. Otherwise, I'd recommend sampling any of the recordings by the other Barber specialists that I mentioned above (Schippers, Slatkin, Zinman, Schenck, and Bernstein). (One that I'd avoid is Neeme Jarvi's recording in Detroit, which isn't all that idiomatic, IMO.)

8. Cello Concerto: among older versions, there is a recording by cellist Zara Nelsova, with the composer conducting. It can be heard on You Tube: 



. Among digital versions, Yo-Yo Ma's recording with David Zinman in Baltimore is very good (& smoother than Nelsova's):



 as are versions by cellist Ralph Kirshbaum (with Jukka-Pekka Saraste) and Raphael Wallfisch (with Geoffrey Simon):

https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Conce...6343382&sr=1-4&keywords=barber+cello+concerto
https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Shost...6343382&sr=1-5&keywords=barber+cello+concerto

9. Piano Music--Pianist John Browning was a friend of the composer's, and premiered various works by him--notably Barber's Nocturne & Piano Concerto. Vladimir Horowitz played & premiered Barber's piano works as well--notably his Piano Sonata & Excursions. Nadia Reissenberg was another early champion of Barber's solo piano music (& I prefer her 1947 recording of Excursions to Horowitz's). In addition, I'd recommend the premiere two piano recording of Barber's Souvenirs, Op. 28, which was originally written as a piano four hands work for the wonderful piano duo, Gold and Fizdale (Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale), and was later arranged by them for two pianos. (Among other composers, Poulenc wrote his Sonata for Two Pianos for the duo, and Gold & Fizdale also wrote an excellent cookbook too--see link below):

John Browning:














Vladimir Horowitz:










Nadia Reissenberg:






Gold and Fizdale:

https://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Barber-Historical-Recordings-1935-1960/dp/B004YNRHBO
https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Fizdale...sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=gold+and+fizdale+barber

10. Canzonetta, for Oboe & Strings, Op. 48: I only know the recording by Marin Alsop, but it's very good: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYXJJWT/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

I see there's also this 1978 live recording on YT--could it be the world premiere?:





11. You might also enjoy DG's box set of the complete Barber songs, featuring singers Cheryl Studer & Thomas Hampson, with John Browning and the Emerson SQ: https://www.amazon.com/Barber-Songs...343900&sr=8-24&keywords=barber+string+quartet

However, I'd recommend starting with Thomas Schipper's recording of the Adagio, First Essay for Orchestra, and Overture, as well as the Oliveira/Slatkin recording of the Barber Violin Concerto, and go from there.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Highly recommended for a small Barber collection


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I feel confident saying Samuel Barber wrote the last great American concerto, his violin concerto, and has another masterpiece, the Adagio for Strings originally from a chamber composition. Barber's two works are played in concert everywhere all the time. I wonder who is the last American composer one could say that about.


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## licorice stick (Nov 24, 2014)

It took me a while to appreciate most Barber, but now I consider a large number of his works to be first class. I will add my endorsement to the Second Essay and First Symphony, which ends in an arresting passacaglia only surpassed in the symphonic repertoire by the finale of Brahms 4.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

larold said:


> I feel confident saying Samuel Barber wrote the last great American concerto, his violin concerto, and has another masterpiece, the Adagio for Strings originally from a chamber composition. Barber's two works are played in concert everywhere all the time. I wonder who is the last American composer one could say that about.


Statistically I believe Copland and the minimalists have become very well represented internationally as regards concerts in recent years, and to some extent Corigliano and Crumb, Carter and Cage.
Rochberg unfortunately is too neglected for example, in spite of writing very catchy works and his progressive/experimental, earlier work.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

For a more humorous example of his work, try the ten-minute long _A Hand of Bridge_, where we can hear the private thoughts of two married couples accompanied by a jazz-like shuffle.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

I'm a bit surprised to see only one mention of his piano sonata. IMO it's one of his finest works. I especially like the fugue movement (movement 4).


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Josquin13 was the first here to mention the Piano Sonata Op. 26. It's his best work IMHO. It shows the depth of his chromatic thinking. I imprinted on Cliburn's version, went back and heard the Horowitz later. I can see now that Horowitz was Cliburn's model and inspiration, but he outdoes Horowitz on this. 
The fugue is spectacular, a short scherzo that is mind-bending, and plenty of Romanticism for all.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I like his opera Antony and Cleopatra. Here is a video with Catherine Malfitano as Cleopatra:


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## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

hpowders said:


> Samuel Barber: Not as great as Copland or Schuman, IMHO, but quite respectable.
> 
> His most famous work is the very moving Adagio for Strings, wheeled out for funerals.
> 
> ...


 Listening now to Barber Knoxville as well as Essays 2 and 3 by Alsop and Royal Scottish and Karina Gauvin. Love it. Intrigued he put music to Matthew Arnold Dover Beach... my favorite poem short of Tennyson's Crossing the Bar... is there a CD of this?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some recordings with samples. 
I don´t recall whether my version (Guinn, Concord4 on Nonesuch LP) is particularly good.

https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/works/52310--barber-dover-beach-op-3/browse


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## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

joen_cph said:


> Some recordings with samples.
> I don´t recall whether my version (Guinn, Concord4 on Nonesuch LP) is particularly good.
> 
> https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/works/52310--barber-dover-beach-op-3/browse


Thank you Joen! Presto is a great site to purchase CDs and even with airmail from Britain beat American colleagues : )


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