Samuel Barber's ''Essay for Orchestra'',
Op. 12, completed in the first half of 1938, is an orchestral work in one movement. It was given its first performance by
Arturo Toscanini with the
NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5, 1938 in New York in a radio broadcast concert in which the composer's ''
Adagio for Strings
''Adagio for Strings'' is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11.
Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year that he wrote the quart ...
'' saw its first performance. It lasts around 8 minutes and is dedicated "To C.E." The essay is now known as the ''First Essay for Orchestra'' after Barber wrote his ''
Second Essay for Orchestra'' in 1942. He also wrote a ''
Third Essay'' in 1978.
Barber visited Toscanini several times in 1933 at his villa on Isola di San Giovanni in
Lago Maggiore
Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...
, and the world-famous conductor told Barber that he would like to perform one of his works. This was a great honor for the young composer, particularly because Toscanini rarely performed works by contemporary or American composers. Barber presented his work to Toscanini in the spring of 1938, together with the score of the ''Adagio for Strings''.
The ''First Essay'' resembles but is not equivalent to a first movement of a symphony.
Besides the world premiere in 1938, Toscanini also performed the music on January 24, 1942, in a special War Bonds performance that was preserved on transcription discs; Toscanini never made a commercial recording of the music.
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...
and the
Philadelphia Orchestra recorded the music in 1942 for
RCA Victor in the Academy of Music.
Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...
with the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra,
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Early life and education
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
with the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Daniel Kawka with the
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI
The RAI National Symphony Orchestra ( it, italic=no, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI) is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piazz ...
have all recorded all three of Barber's ''Essays''.
References
Sources
*
Further reading
* Friedwald, Russell Edward. 1957. "A Formal and Stylistic Analysis of the Published Music of Samuel Barber". Ph. D. diss. Ames: Iowa State University.
* Pettis, Ashley. November 13, 1938. "Important American Music". ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.
External links
*
First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12, program note by J. Anthony McAlister.
Los Angeles Philharmonic.
{{Authority control
Compositions by Samuel Barber
Compositions for symphony orchestra
1938 compositions
Music with dedications