Classical Music / Composers Datebook: March 9
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Brief biography of
American composer Samuel Barber, musician of the neo-Classical style, with a passion for poetry and drama, famous for 'Adagio for Strings' and 'Dover Beach'. He created a "modern" grand opera Antony and Cleopatra, the first to be performed at the new Metropolitan Opera House (Met) in New York City, Sept 16, 1966.
Early Life, Influence and Success
Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, on March 9, 1910, he was bred into a cultured musical family. At the age of seven, Samuel displayed a prodigious talent for composing both in vocal and instrumental music. Aged 18, he formed a lasting friendship with Gian Carlo Menotti.
He studied as a baritone, pianist and composer at the Curtis Institute and while there, he won acclaim with such work as Dover Beach. He also wrote his famous Adagio for strings at the age of 25. His opulent yet unforced romanticism struck a chord and he was much in demand during the 1930s.
He rarely incorporated popular jazz and folk idioms into his music. Samuel won a Pulitzer scholarship in 1935, and the following year, the American Academy’s Prix de Rome. In the 1940s he began to include more ‘modern’ features of harmony and scoring.
More Work and Awards
His works include Adagio for Strings (used in the films The Elephant Man and Platoon in the 1980s), ballets (Medea, Op.23, 1946, reviewed as Cave of the Heart, 1947, and Souvenirs, Op.28, 1952), some chamber music and the opera Vanessa which won him one of his two Pulitzer prizes.
Notably, the opera Antony and Cleopatra, which was commissioned for the opening of the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center, New York City, was considered a failure at its premiere primarily due to an over-elaborate staging, but had some success during the later version in 1974.
Later Works
Barber’s music is lyrical and fastidiously worked. His later compositions include The Lovers in 1971. The tuneful style of his composition has been considered conservative by some contemporary critics, understandably, perhaps due to influence from European Romantic tradition, but he is held in highest esteem with the depth of emotion expressed in his music.
He died in New York, January 23, 1981.
Barber's Major Works:
Dover Beach, for solo baritone and string quarter, 1931
Overture, The School for Scandal, 1931
String Quarter, 1936
Symphony No.1, 1936
Adagio for Strings, 1938
Violin Concerto, 1941
Cello Concerto, 1945
Medea, Op.23, 1946, reviewed as Cave of the Heart, 1947,
Knoxville: Summer of 1915, for soprano and orchestra, 1947
Piano sonata, 1949
Souvenirs, Op.28, 1952
Opera, Vanessa, 1957-1958
Opera, Antony and Cleopatra, 1966
Agnus Dei, for choir, 1967
Photo Credit:
Samuel Barber. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain
Resources:
The Encyclopedia of Music, by Max Wade-Matthews & Wendy Thompson, Hermes House (2002)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)
(c) March 2009. Updated March 9, 2024. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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