Samuel Barber
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Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and
music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...
, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic
Donal Henahan Donal Henahan (February 28, 1921 – August 19, 2012) was an American music critic and journalist who had lengthy associations with the ''Chicago Daily News'' and ''The New York Times''. With the ''Times'' he won the annual Pulitzer Prize for ...
said, "Probably no other American composer has ever enjoyed such early, such persistent and such long-lasting acclaim." Principally influenced by nine years' composition studies with
Rosario Scalero Natale Rosario Scalero (24 December 1870 in Moncalieri - 25 December 1954 in Montestrutto) was an Italian violinist, music teacher and composer. Life and career By the age of six, Scalero was under the tutelage of Pietro Bertazzi, a violinis ...
at the Curtis Institute and more than 25 years' study with his uncle, the composer
Sidney Homer Sidney Homer, Sr. (9 December 1864 – 10 July 1953) was a classical composer, primarily of songs. Biography Homer was the youngest child born to deaf parents in Boston, Massachusetts on December 9, 1864 (some sources use 1865). He attended ...
, Barber's music usually eschewed the experimental trends of
musical modernism In music, modernism is an aesthetic stance underlying the period of change and development in musical language that occurred around the turn of the 20th century, a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older categories o ...
in favor of traditional 19th-century harmonic language and formal structure embracing lyricism and emotional expression. However, he adopted elements of modernism after 1940 in some of his compositions, such as an increased use of dissonance and chromaticism in the '' Cello Concerto'' (1945) and '' Medea's Dance of Vengeance'' (1955); and the use of tonal ambiguity and a narrow use of
serialism In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...
in his ''
Piano Sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement ( Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with ...
'' (1949), '' Prayers of Kierkegaard'' (1954), and ''Nocturne'' (1959). Barber was adept at both instrumental and vocal music. His works became successful on the international stage and many of his compositions enjoyed rapid adoption into the classical performance canon. In particular, his ''
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 ...
'' (1936) has earned a permanent place in the orchestral concert repertory, as has that work's adaptation for chorus, ''
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
'' (1967). He received the
Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...
twice: for his opera ''
Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...
'' (1956–57), and for the '' Concerto for Piano and Orchestra'' (1962). Also widely performed is his '' Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of Barber's death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded. Many of his compositions were commissioned or first performed by such noted groups and artists as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
, the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
,
Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of al ...
,
Eleanor Steber Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States. Biography Eleanor ...
,
Raya Garbousova Raya Garbousova (russian: Ра́я Га́рбузова; September 25, 1909Alternative dates appear in the literature. The ''New Grove'' has September 25, 1906, and ''Baker's Dictionary'' has October 10, 1905. Raya Garbousova herself claimed to ...
, John Browning,
Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first Af ...
,
Pierre Bernac Pierre Louis Bernac (né Bertin; 12 January 1899 – 17 October 1979) was a French singer, a baryton-martin, known as an interpreter of the French mélodie. He had a close artistic association with Francis Poulenc, with whom he performed i ...
, Francis Poulenc, and
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...
. While Barber composed a significant body of purely instrumental music, two-thirds of his compositional output was art songs for voice and piano, choral music, and songs for voice and orchestra. Some of his most frequently performed songs include both the solo voice and choral versions of '' Sure on this shining night'' (solo version from 1938 and choral version from 1961) with text by Agee; and the
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...
''
Hermit Songs ''Hermit Songs'' is a cycle of ten songs for voice and piano by Samuel Barber. Written in 1953 on a grant from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, it takes as its basis a collection of anonymous poems written by Irish monks and scholar ...
'' (1953), with anonymous texts by Irish monks from the eighth through thirteenth centuries. This emphasis on sung material was rooted in his own brief career as a professional baritone in his 20s which inspired a lifelong love of vocal music. In 1935, Barber recorded his own setting of Arnold's "
Dover Beach "Dover Beach" is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection ''New Poems''; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.Al ...
" for
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, accompanying his own singing voice, and was also featured weekly on NBC Radio in 1935–1936 performing of German lieder and art songs. He also occasionally conducted performances and recordings of his works with symphony orchestras during the 1950s, and taught composition at the Curtis Institute from 1939–1942. Barber was in a relationship with the composer Gian Carlo Menotti for more than 40 years. They lived at Capricorn, a house just north of New York City, where they frequently hosted parties with academic and music luminaries. Menotti was Barber's librettist for two of his three operas. When the relationship ended in 1970, they remained close friends until Barber's death from cancer in 1981.


Biography


Early years and education

Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and Samuel Le Roy Barber. He was born into a comfortable, educated, social, and distinguished American family. His father was a physician; his mother was a pianist of English-Scottish-Irish descent whose family had lived in the United States since the time of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. His maternal aunt,
Louise Homer Louise Beatty Homer (April 30, 1871May 6, 1947) was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer ...
, was a leading
contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...
at the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
; his uncle,
Sidney Homer Sidney Homer, Sr. (9 December 1864 – 10 July 1953) was a classical composer, primarily of songs. Biography Homer was the youngest child born to deaf parents in Boston, Massachusetts on December 9, 1864 (some sources use 1865). He attended ...
, was a composer of American art songs. Louise Homer is known to have influenced Barber's interest in voice. Through his aunt, Barber was introduced to many great singers and songs. Sidney Homer mentored Barber for more than 25 years, and profoundly influenced his compositional aesthetics. At a very early age, Barber became profoundly interested in music, and it was apparent that he had great musical talent and ability. He began studying the piano at the age of six and at age seven composed his first work, ''Sadness'', a 23-measure solo piano piece in C minor. Despite Barber's interest in music, his family wanted him to become a typical extroverted, athletic American boy. This meant, in particular, they encouraged his playing football. However, Barber was in no way a typical boy, and at the age of nine he wrote to his mother: At the age of 10, Barber wrote his first operetta, ''The Rose Tree'', to a libretto by the family's cook. At the age of 12, he became an
organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
at a local church. At the age of 14, he entered the youth artist program at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he ultimately spent ten years developing his talents as a triple prodigy in composition, voice, and piano. During his initial studies at Curtis, he simultaneously attended and graduated from West Chester High School (now
West Chester Henderson High School B. Reed Henderson High School is located partially in the borough of West Chester and partially in West Goshen Township in Pennsylvania. B. Reed Henderson is one of the three high schools (Henderson, East, and Rustin) in the West Chester Area Sc ...
), during which time he composed his school's alma mater which is still in use today. Following his graduation from high school in 1928, he entered the adult professional program at Curtis from which he graduated in 1934. At Curtis he studied piano with
George Frederick Boyle George Frederick Boyle (June 29, 1886June 20, 1948) was an Australian, and later American pianist, composer and pedagogue. He moved to the United States in 1910 and remained there until his death in 1948. Biography Boyle was born in Sydney, New ...
and
Isabelle Vengerova Isabelle Vengerova ( be, Ізабэла Венгерава; 7 February 1956) was a Russian, later American, pianist and music teacher. She was born Izabella Afanasyevna Vengerova (Изабелла Афанасьевна Венгерова) in M ...
,
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
with
Rosario Scalero Natale Rosario Scalero (24 December 1870 in Moncalieri - 25 December 1954 in Montestrutto) was an Italian violinist, music teacher and composer. Life and career By the age of six, Scalero was under the tutelage of Pietro Bertazzi, a violinis ...
, conducting with
Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to ...
, and voice with Emilio de Gogorza. In 1928, he met fellow Curtis schoolmate Gian Carlo Menotti, who became his partner in life as well as in their shared profession. During his last year at Curtis he became a favorite of the conservatory's founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. It was through Mrs. Bok that Barber was introduced to his lifelong publishers, the Schirmer family. After graduating from Curtis in the Spring of 1934, he pursued further studies in conducting and singing with John Braun in Vienna through the aid of a Pulitzer traveling scholarship. He soon after was awarded the
Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...
which enabled him to pursue further studies at the
American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...
from 1935–1937. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1946 and also studied conducting privately with
George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...
.


Early career (1928–1941)

From his early adulthood, Barber wrote a flurry of successful compositions, launching him into the spotlight of the classical music world. According to Walter Simmons, Barber's earlier compositions contain certain characteristics that directly relate to the "childhood" period of his composition, extending to 1942. The use of tonal harmony, unresolved dissonance, moderate chromaticism, and largely diatonic, lyrical melodies are some of the defining features of this period in his compositional career. At the age of 18, he won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
for his
violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple baroque form with no fixed fo ...
(now lost or destroyed by the composer). He won the Bearns Prize a second time for his first large-scale orchestral work, an overture to ''
The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sn ...
'', which was composed in 1931 when he was 21 years old. It premiered successfully two years later in a performance given by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of conductor
Alexander Smallens Alexander Smallens (January 1, 1889 – November 24, 1972) was a Russian Empire-born American conductor and music director. Biography Smallens was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated to the United States as a child, becoming ...
. In his early career Barber had a brief career as a professional baritone, performing on the NBC Music Guild concert series and earning a weekly contract on NBC radio in 1935. Musicologist Barbara Heyman wrote that Barber's "recording of his own setting of Arnold's "
Dover Beach "Dover Beach" is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection ''New Poems''; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.Al ...
" was hailed as having ‘singular charm and beauty’, ‘intelligently sung by a naturally beautiful voice’. First-hand experience as a singer and an intuitive empathy with the voice would find expression in the large legacy of songs that occupy some two-thirds of his output." Barber's first orchestral work to receive international attention was his '' Symphony in One Movement'' which he wrote while studying composition in Rome. The work was premiered by the
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia) is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in ...
in Rome under the baton of
Bernardino Molinari Bernardino Molinari (11 April 1880 – 25 December 1952) was an Italian conductor. Molinari studied under Renzi and Falchi at the Accademia (then "Liceo Musicale") of Santa Cecilia in his home town of Rome. In 1912, he was appointed artist ...
in December 1936, and was soon after programmed by symphony orchestras in New York City and Cleveland. The work was the first symphonic composition created by an American to appear at the
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 Ama ...
, where it was performed in 1937. In 1938, when Barber was 28, his ''
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 ...
'' was performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini, along with his first '' Essay for Orchestra''. The Adagio had been arranged from the slow movement of Barber's String Quartet, Op. 11. Toscanini had rarely performed music by American composers before (an exception was
Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...
's ''Second Symphony,'' which he conducted in 1933). At the end of the first rehearsal of the piece, Toscanini remarked, "''Semplice e bella''" (simple and beautiful). From 1939–1942, Barber taught composition at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.


Mid career (1942–1966)

In 1942, after the US entered World War II, Barber joined the
Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
where he remained in service through 1945. While there, he was commissioned to write several works for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), including his '' Cello Concerto'' for
Raya Garbousova Raya Garbousova (russian: Ра́я Га́рбузова; September 25, 1909Alternative dates appear in the literature. The ''New Grove'' has September 25, 1906, and ''Baker's Dictionary'' has October 10, 1905. Raya Garbousova herself claimed to ...
and his ''Second Symphony'', a work he later suppressed. Composed in 1943, the symphony was originally titled ''Symphony Dedicated to the Air Forces'' and was premiered in early 1944 by
Serge Koussevitsky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...
and the BSO. Barber revised the symphony in 1947 and it was subsequently published by G. Schirmer in 1950 and recorded the following year by the New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Barber himself.''Samuel Barber: Symphony no. 2, op. 19'', LP recording, 10-inch, London LPS 334 (New York and London: London Records, 1951); reissued as ''Samuel Barber: Symphony no. 2, op. 19; Medea Ballet Suite, op. 23'', LP recording, 12-inch, London LL 1328 (London: London Records, 1956); reissued in this same pairing on 12-inch LP recording, Everest SDBR 3282 (Los Angeles, CA: Everest Records, 1970); reissued as ''Samuel Barber: Symphony no. 2, op. 19; Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, op. 22; Media, op. 23: Orchestral Suite from the Music to the Ballet Cave of the Heart'', with Zara Nelsova (cello), CD recording, Pearl GEM 1051 (Wadhurst, E. Sussex, England: Pearl, 2001). According to some sources, Barber destroyed the score in 1964. Hans Heinsheimer was an eyewitness, and reported that he accompanied Barber to the publisher's office where they collected all the music from the library, and Barber "tore up all these beautifully and expensively copied materials with his own hands". Doubt has been cast on this story, however, on grounds that Heinsheimer, as an executive at G. Schirmer, would have been unlikely to have allowed Barber into the Schirmer offices to watch him "rip apart the music that his company had invested money in publishing". The score was later reconstructed from the instrumental parts, and released in a Vox Box "Stradivari Classics" recording by the
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Symph ...
conducted by Andrew Schenck in 1988. In 1943, Barber and Menotti purchased ‘Capricorn’, a house north of Manhattan in suburban Mount Kisco, New York. The home served as their artistic retreat up until 1972, and it was at this house that Barber had his most productive years as a composer during the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. Here he wrote ballet suite ''
Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' (1946) for Martha Graham and the symphonic work '' Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' for soprano and orchestra for opera singer
Eleanor Steber Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States. Biography Eleanor ...
who premiered the work with the BSO in 1948. In 1946 he was selected by the
United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
to be a member of the American delegation to the first
Prague Spring International Music Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní hudební festival Pražské jaro, commonly cs, Pražské jaro, Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras an ...
where his music was showcased alongside other prominent American composers such as Leonard Bernstein. In 1949 he achieved a major critical success with his ''
Piano Sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement ( Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with ...
'' which was premiered by
Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of al ...
and commissioned by
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...
and Richard Rodgers to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the
League of Composers The League of Composers/ International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce Am ...
. Popularized in concerts internationally by Horowitz and other prominent pianists, the work earned an enduring place in the performance canon. In the 1950s Barber was engaged to conduct his own works with several symphony orchestras internationally for performances and recordings, including the BSO, the
Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
and the
Frankfurt Radio Symphony The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. F ...
. To prepare for recordings of his ''Second Symphony'', ''Cello Concerto'' and the ''Medea'' ballet suite, he studied conducting with
Nikolai Malko Nicolai Andreyevich Malko (russian: Никола́й Андре́евич Малько́, ua, Микола Андрійович Малько; 4 May 188323 June 1961) was a Russian-born American symphonic conductor. Biography Malko was born in ...
in 1951. In 1952 he was elected Vice President of the
International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, where it functions as an independent international non-governmental organization. Its p ...
. In 1953 Barber was introduced to soprano
Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first Af ...
by her voice teacher
Florence Kimball Florence Page Kimball (April 26, 1888 – November 24, 1977) was an American soprano who became a celebrated voice teacher at the Juilliard School where she taught for 46 years. She taught hundreds of students, and many of her pupils had success ...
, who was a friend of Barber, when he approached Kimball about needing a singer to perform his
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...
''
Hermit Songs ''Hermit Songs'' is a cycle of ten songs for voice and piano by Samuel Barber. Written in 1953 on a grant from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, it takes as its basis a collection of anonymous poems written by Irish monks and scholar ...
''. Impressed with her voice, Barber engaged her to premiere the work at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
with Barber accompanying on the piano. Price also sang for the premiere of Barber's cantata '' Prayers of Kierkegaard'' with the BSO in 1954, and would become closely associated with performances of his music over the next two decades. In 1958 Barber won the
Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...
for his first opera ''
Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...
'' which premiered at the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
in January 1958 with a cast that included opera stars Eleanor Steber,
Rosalind Elias Rosalind Elias (March 13, 1930 – May 3, 2020) was an American mezzo-soprano who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera. She was best known for creating the role of Erika in Samuel Barber's '' Vanessa in'' 1958. Early ...
,
Regina Resnik Regina Resnik (born Regina Resnick, August 30, 1922 – August 8, 2013) was an American opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and ...
,
Nicolai Gedda Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, known professionally as Nicolai Gedda (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017), was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1951, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made h ...
, and
Giorgio Tozzi Giorgio Tozzi (January 8, 1923 – May 30, 2011) was an American operatic bass. He was a mainstay for many years with the Metropolitan Opera, and sang principal bass roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide. Career Tozzi was born Georg ...
. The Met took the production to the Salzburg Festival later that year, becoming the first American opera to be performed at that festival. Menotti wrote the libretto for both ''Vanessa'', and Barber's second opera ''
A Hand of Bridge ''A Hand of Bridge'', opus 35, is an opera in one act composed by Samuel Barber with libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, and is possibly the shortest opera that is regularly performed: it lasts about nine minutes. It premiered as a part of Menotti' ...
''. This latter work premiered at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoletto, Italy in 1959 with a cast that included
Patricia Neway Patricia Neway (September 30, 1919 – January 24, 2012) was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress who had an active international career during the mid-1940s through the 1970s. One of the few performers of her day to enjoy equal ...
and William Lewis. In 1962 Barber became the first American composer to attend the biennial Congress of Soviet Composers in Moscow. That same year he won the Pulitzer Prize a second time for his '' Piano Concerto'' which was one of three works by him commissioned for the opening of
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
and was performed at the opening of Philharmonic Hall with pianist John Browning in September 1962. The second work performed for the opening of Lincoln Center was his ''Andromache's Farewell'', a piece for soprano and orchestra, which was premiered by the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
and soprano
Martina Arroyo Martina Arroyo (born February 2, 1937) is an American operatic soprano who had a major international opera career from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was part of the first generation of black opera singers to achieve wide success. Arroyo first ...
with
Thomas Schippers Thomas Schippers (9 March 1930 – 16 December 1977) was an American conductor. He was highly regarded for his work in opera. Biography Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large appliance store, Schippers was born in Portage, Michiga ...
conducting in April 1963. The final composition composed for Lincoln center was his third and final opera, '' Antony and Cleopatra'', which premiered at the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in 1966 with Leontyne Price and
Justino Diaz Justino is a name which is used as both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Justino de Azcárate (1903–1989), Spanish lawyer and politician * Justino Díaz (born 1940), Puerto Rican operatic bass-barit ...
in the title roles. This work was poorly received by critics, although Barber himself believed it contained some of his best work, and he spent the decade following its premiere revising the opera.


Later years (1966–1981)

After the harsh rejection of his third opera '' Antony and Cleopatra'' (1966), Barber battled depression and alcoholism which had a negative impact on his creative productivity. He began to divide his time between his home in New York and a chalet in Santa Christina, Italy where he spent long periods in isolation. Tensions grew between Menotti and Barber, leading Menotti to insist that the couple end their romantic attachment and put 'Capricorn' up for sale in 1970. Capricorn sold in 1972, and the two men remained friends after their romantic involvement ended. During his troubled later years, Barber continued to write music until he was almost 70 years old. In 1967 he successfully adapted his ''Adagio for Strings'' (1936) to a choral work, ''
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
'', set to the Latin liturgical mass text on the Lamb of God. The work has become widely performed and recorded by choirs internationally. In 1969 Leontyne Price performed the premiere of Barber's song cycle ''Despite and Still'' which emphasized textual themes of loneliness, isolation, and lost love; all issues present in Menotti's own personal life at the time of this work's creation. This work adopted a more modern dissonant harmonic language with vivid textual imagery characterized by tonal ambiguity and a frequent use of chromaticism, conflicting triads,
tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adj ...
s, and
whole-tone In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more det ...
segments. In 1971 his cantata ''The Lovers'' was well received by audiences and critics when it premiered in performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Finnish baritone
Tom Krause Tom Gunnar Krause (5 July 1934 − 6 December 2013) was a Finnish operatic bass-baritone, particularly associated with Mozart roles. Early life Born in Helsinki, Tom Krause studied medicine for three years with the intention of becoming a psyc ...
, and the Temple University Chorus directed by Robert Page. The '' Third Essay'' for orchestra (1978) was his last major work. Barber was hospitalized on and off between 1978–1981 while undergoing treatment for cancer. He died of that disease on January 23, 1981, at his 907 Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan at the age of 70. The funeral was held at the
First Presbyterian Church of West Chester First Presbyterian Church of West Chester is a historic Presbyterianism, Presbyterian church (building), church located at 130 W. Miner Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania, West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was designed in 1832 by ...
three days later and he was buried in the
Oaklands Cemetery Oaklands Cemetery is a rural cemetery founded in 1854 in West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is located at 1042 Pottstown Pike and is approximately in size. Description and history The Oaklands Cemetery was founded in respo ...
there. His final composition, ''Canzone for oboe and string orchestra'' (1981), was published after his death. Initially intended to be a fully developed oboe concerto, Barber only completed the second movement of that work.


Achievements and awards

Barber received numerous awards and prizes, including the
Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...
, two Pulitzer Prizes, the Henry Hadley Medal (1958), and the Gold Medal for Music at the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1976). He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
and, as a Fellow, to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1961. Barber was awarded the
Edward MacDowell Medal The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by MacDowell, the first artist residency program in the United Sta ...
in 1980 by the
MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...
for outstanding contribution to the arts. In addition to composing, Barber was active in organizations that sought to help musicians and promote music. He was president of the International Music Council of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. He worked to bring attention to and ameliorate adverse conditions facing musicians and musical organizations worldwide. He was one of the first American composers to visit Russia (then part of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
). Barber was also influential in the successful campaign by composers against
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
, the goal of which was to increase royalties paid to composers.


Music


Orchestral

Through the success of his Overture to ''The School for Scandal'' (1931), ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' (1933), ''
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 ...
'' (1936), (First) '' Symphony in One Movement'' (1936), (First) '' Essay for Orchestra'' (1937) and
Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
(1939), Barber garnered performances by the world's leading conductors such as
Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish-American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...
,
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 ...
,
Dimitri Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...
,
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...
,
Charles Münch Charles Munch (; born Charles Münch, 26 September 1891 – 6 November 1968) was an Alsatian French symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he was best known as music director of the Boston ...
,
George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...
,
Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...
, and
Thomas Schippers Thomas Schippers (9 March 1930 – 16 December 1977) was an American conductor. He was highly regarded for his work in opera. Biography Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large appliance store, Schippers was born in Portage, Michiga ...
. Among his works are four concertos, one each for violin (1939),
cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...
(1945) and piano (1962), and the neoclassical '' Capricorn Concerto'' for flute, oboe, trumpet and string orchestra (1944). He also wrote a concertante work for organ and orchestra entitled ''Toccata Festiva'' (1960). Barber's final opus was the ''Canzonetta'' for oboe and string orchestra (1977–78), Op. 48, originally intended as the second movement of an oboe concerto.


Piano

Barber's most important and most played works for the piano include his ''Excursions,'' Op. 20, which emulate four styles of classic American idioms, including the boogie woogie and blues, and the ''Piano Sonata in E-flat minor'', Op. 26. ''The Nocturne'' ("Homage to John Field"), Op. 33, is another respected piece which he composed for the instrument.


Opera

Menotti supplied the libretto for Barber's opera ''
Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...
.'' (Menotti also contributed the libretto for Barber's chamber opera ''A Hand of Bridge''.) In 1956, using his vocal training, Barber played and sang the score of ''Vanessa'' for the Metropolitan Opera's General Manager,
Rudolf Bing Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE (January 9, 1902 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born British opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably being General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...
, who accepted the work. It premiered in January 1958. ''Vanessa'' won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize and gained acclaim as the first American grand opera. Barber's ''Antony and Cleopatra'' was commissioned for the new Metropolitan Opera House at
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
, and premiered at the opening of Opera House on September 16, 1966. The elaborate production, designed by
Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
, was plagued with technical disasters; it also overwhelmed and obscured Barber's music, which most critics derided as uncharacteristically weak and unoriginal. The critical rejection of music that Barber considered to be among his best sent him into a deep depression. In recent years, a revised version of ''Antony and Cleopatra'', for which Menotti provided collaborative assistance, has enjoyed some success., citing as a general reference., citing and .


Violin

In 1939 Philadelphia industrialist
Samuel Simeon Fels Samuel Simeon Fels (February 16, 1860 in Yanceyville, North Carolina – June 23, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Yanceyville, North Carolina, Fels famil ...
commissioned Barber to write a
violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
for Fels's ward, Iso Briselli, a 1934 graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music (as Barber was). The Barber biographies written by Nathan Broder (1954) and Barbara B. Heyman (1992) discuss the genesis of the concerto during the period of the violin concerto's commission and subsequent year leading up to the first performance. Heyman interviewed Briselli and others familiar with the history for her book. In late 2010, previously unpublished letters written by Fels, Barber, and Albert Meiff (Briselli's violin coach in that period), from the Samuel Simeon Fels Papers archived at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...
, became available to the public.


Notable compositions

* ''Dover Beach'' (medium voice and string quartet) (Op. 3, 1931) * ''
The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sn ...
'' ( overture) (Op. 5, 1931) *
Cello Sonata A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for solo cello with piano accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 1 ...
(Op. 6, 1932) * ''
Music for a Scene from Shelley ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'', Op. 7, is a tone poem composed by Samuel Barber in 1933. History Barber composed ''Music for a Scene from Shelley'' during a visit to Italy in the summer of 1933. It was inspired in part by the view of Lak ...
'' (Op. 7, 1933) * (First) '' Symphony in One Movement'' (Op. 9, 1936) * ''
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 ...
'' (1936 arr. of second movement of the String Quartet, Op. 11, 1936) * '' Essay for Orchestra'' (Op. 12, 1938) *
Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
(Op. 14, 1939) * ''Reincarnations'' for mixed chorus, (Op. 16, 1939–1940); words by Antoine Ó Raifteiri in translation by James Stephens * '' Second Essay for Orchestra'' (Op. 17, 1942) * ''
Excursions An excursion is a trip by a group of people, usually made for leisure, education, or Physical exercise, physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other (typically work-related) purposes. Pu ...
'' (Op. 20, 1942–44) * '' Capricorn Concerto'' (Op. 21, 1944) * Cello Concerto (Op. 22, 1945) * ''
Medea (ballet) ''Medea'', Op. 23, (1946) is a ballet suite by American composer Samuel Barber. It was commissioned by the Ditson Fund of Columbia University for Martha Graham and was premiered on 10 May 1946, at Columbia University's McMillin Theater, New York ...
'' (Op. 23, 1946) * '' Knoxville: Summer of 1915'' ( soprano and orchestra) (Op. 24, 1948) * Sonata for Piano (Op. 26, 1949) * ''
Hermit Songs ''Hermit Songs'' is a cycle of ten songs for voice and piano by Samuel Barber. Written in 1953 on a grant from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, it takes as its basis a collection of anonymous poems written by Irish monks and scholar ...
'' (Op. 29, 1953) * '' Prayers of Kierkegaard'' (soprano, choir and orchestra) (Op. 30, 1954) * '' Summer Music for Wind Quintet'' (Op. 31, 1956) * ''
Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...
'' (opera) (Op. 32, 1957) * Nocturne ''(Homage to John Field)'' (piano) (Op. 33, 1959) * ''
A Hand of Bridge ''A Hand of Bridge'', opus 35, is an opera in one act composed by Samuel Barber with libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, and is possibly the shortest opera that is regularly performed: it lasts about nine minutes. It premiered as a part of Menotti' ...
'' ( chamber opera) (Op. 35, 1959) * ''Toccata Festiva'' (organ and orchestra) (Op. 36, 1960) * Piano Concerto (Op. 38, 1962) * '' Antony and Cleopatra'' (Op. 40, opera, 1966, rev. 1974)


Notes

Sources * , reprint of Schirmer, New York (1954). * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Károlyi, Ottó. 1996. ''Modern American Music: From Charles Ives to the Minimalists''. London: Cygnus Arts; Madison .J. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. (cloth); (pbk). * Lee, Douglas A. 2002. ''Masterworks of 20th-Century Music: The Modern Repertory Of The Symphony Orchestra''. New York: Routledge. * Simmons, Walter. 2004. ''Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers''. Lanham, Maryland.: Scarecrow Press. . Paperback reprint edition, Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006. . * Staubrand, Jens. 2009. ''Kierkegaard International Bibliography: Music Works and Plays: Appendix: About The Seducers Diary and the Illness and Death of Søren Kierkegaard'', new edition. Copenhagen: Eget Forlag; i kommission hos Forlaget Underskoven. . * Wade, Graham. 2003. ''A Concise Guide to Understanding Music''. Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay Publications. . * Warrack, John Hamilton, and Ewan West. 1992. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press


External links


Biographies

* Brévignon, Pierre. 2011. ''Samuel Barber, un nostalgique entre deux mondes''. Paris: Editions Hermann. . * Heyman, Barbara B. 1992. ''Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music''. New York: Oxford University Press. * Wittke, Paul. 1994. ''Samuel Barber''. G. Schirmer Inc. * Homepage o
''Capricorn''
the French Samuel Barber Society. (In English and French) * Articl
"Barber, A Composer Between Two Worlds"
by the Capricorn Society on American Center France * Samuel Osborne Barber. IHAS. PBS. *
"Samuel Barber"
''Fyne Times'' *


Audio and video


Anne Akiko Meyers performs the Barber Violin Concerto

Art of the States: Samuel Barber

In the BBC Discovering Music: Listening Library

''Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty'' – feature-length documentary film about the composer by H. Paul Moon

Samuel Barber
(in German) from the archive of the
Österreichische Mediathek The Österreichische Mediathek ("Austrian Mediathek") is the Austrian archive for sound recordings and videos on cultural and contemporary history. It was founded in 1960 as Österreichische Phonothek (Austrian Phonothek) by the Ministry of Educat ...


Archival collections


Samuel Barber collection, 1852–2000
at the Library of Congress
Samuel Barber digital collection
at the Library of Congress {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Samuel 1910 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century LGBT people American classical composers American classical pianists American conductors (music) American contemporary classical composers American LGBT musicians American male classical composers American male classical pianists American male conductors (music) American music educators American operatic baritones American opera composers Ballet composers Burials at Oaklands Cemetery Choral composers Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Composers for carillon Curtis Institute of Music alumni Curtis Institute of Music faculty Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Grammy Award winners LGBT classical composers LGBT classical musicians LGBT people from Pennsylvania Male opera composers People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Political music artists Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Pulitzer Traveling Scholarship winners Pupils of Rosario Scalero Singers from Pennsylvania