Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

's Symphony in One Movement ( Op. 9), was completed 24 February 1936. It was premiered by Rome's Philharmonic Augusteo Orchestra under the baton of Bernardino Molinari on 13 December 1936. It lasts around 21 minutes. The title given in the printed score of the work is First Symphony (in One Movement), and the

uniform title A uniform title in library cataloging is a distinctive title assigned to a work which either has no title or has appeared under more than one title. Establishing a uniform title is an aspect of authority control. The phrases conventional title and ...

is Symphonies, no. 1, op. 9.

History

Barber commenced his work on the symphony in August 1935 and completed the work at the Anabel Taylor Foundation in Roquebrune in the French Alps. It was dedicated to his long-time companion

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

. It received its American premiere by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Rudolf Ringwall, on January 21 and 23, 1937, and it was performed three times on March 24 of the same year at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, played by the New York Philharmonic–Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Artur Rodziński. Rodziński was a strong promoter of Barber's work, and he also conducted the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

's performance of the symphony at the opening concert of the 1937

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

. It was the first performance of a symphonic work by an American composer at the festival. The symphony is also featured on the first LP recording produced by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 1974 under the direction of Kenneth Schermerhorn.

Analysis

The symphony is a condensed one-

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

version of a classical four-movement

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and is modeled after Sibelius' Symphony No. 7. The work is divided into four sections: #Allegro ma non troppo #Allegro molto #Andante tranquillo #Con moto In the program notes for the New York premiere Barber explained: Barber made some revisions to the work in 1942–43. The revised version was first performed 18 February 1944 by the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

conducted by Bruno Walter.

Allegro non troppo

;Main theme (mm. 2–4) : \relative c'' ;Lyrical second theme (mm. 29–31) : \relative c ;Closing theme (mm. 61–64) : \relative c

Scherzo

;First theme in diminution (mm. 138–42) : \relative c''

Andante tranquillo

;Second theme (mm. 437–445) : \relative c'

Passacaglia

;First theme (mm. 522–27) : \relative c

References

Sources * * *

External links

National Symphony Orchestra program notes
{{Authority control Compositions by Samuel Barber Barber 01 1936 compositions