Born: 1910
Died: 1981
Country: USA
Period: 20th Century
An open-hearted yet tough romantic, Samuel Barber was one of the few twentieth century American composers to fight for the primacy of lyricism. In his last decades he seemed to be losing the battle, but by the end of the century Barber had posthumously become one of America's most widely performed and recorded composers. In particular, his emotive Violin Concerto and Adagio for Strings have gained a popularity exceeded only by certain works ofRead more Aaron Copland.
Barber entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1924, where he met future opera composer Gian Carlo Menotti; the two would become lifelong lovers. Barber was an able pianist and a baritone of some talent, but he was an even more precocious composer. His 1933 Curtis graduation piece, the spirited School for Scandal Overture, has become a beloved concert opener.
Barber developed into America's most enduring composer of art songs; most popular is his tender setting for soprano and chamber orchestra of James Agee's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Barber had unerring taste in texts, and his literary interests led him to compose some allusive short orchestral pieces. Yet he was particularly adept at writing abstract works, such as Music for a Scene from Shelley. Many of these are in large forms: two symphonies, one string quartet (from which was drawn the Adagio for Strings, first popularized by Arturo Toscanini), an ambitious piano sonata, and one concerto each for violin, cello, and piano. While following traditional formats, they are propelled by a dramatic expressivity that hadn't been fashionable since Sibelius. Equally direct in their emotional content are his three Essays for Orchestra, the second being the best crafted and most acclaimed.
Barber would have seemed an ideal composer for the stage, but he had limited success in that realm. Medea, a 1947 dance score for Martha Graham, has found greater longevity in orchestral excerpts. His 1958 Vanessa garnered him the first of two Pulitzer Prizes (the second was for his Piano Concerto), but, like most other American operas, it quickly dropped out of sight. Barber wrote Anthony and Cleopatra to open the new Metropolitan Opera House in 1966, but critical reaction was so hostile that he produced very little during his remaining 15 years. Barber was too conservative to be fashionable; his harmony could be astringent, but his tonality remained secure, his rhythms were strong and clear, and he was not above writing a good melody. Read less
Label: Sony
Catalog: 537604
Release Date: 03/10/2017
Number of Discs: 20
Composer:
Franz Joseph Haydn,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Franz Schubert
...
Performer:
Edna Phillips,
Jon Garrison,
Gladys Swarthout,
Nicola Moscona
...
Conductor:
Arturo Toscanini
Orchestra/Ensemble:
NBC Symphony Orchestra,
New York Philharmonic,
Philadelphia Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Rca
Catalog: 516979
Release Date: 10/28/2016
Number of Discs: 86
Composer:
Camille Saint-Saëns,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Franz Schubert,
Vincent D'Indy
...
Performer:
Yehudi Menuhin,
Artur Rubinstein,
Margaret Roggero,
Leslie Chabey
...
Conductor:
Charles Munch
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Philharmonic,
Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Harvard Glee Club
...
Recommendation
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 556702
Release Date: 08/26/2016
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
George Gershwin,
Leonard Bernstein,
Samuel Barber,
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
...
Performer:
Wayne Marshall,
Peter Donohoe,
Hélčne Grimaud,
Sabine Meyer
...
Conductor:
Wayne Marshall,
Simon Rattle,
David Zinman,
Paavo Järvi
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Aalborg Symphony Orchestra,
London Sinfonietta,
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 556480
Release Date: 08/05/2016
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Maurice Ravel,
George Frideric Handel,
Antonio Vivaldi
...
Performer:
Yehudi Menuhin,
Barry Tuckwell,
Mikhail Rudy,
Maria-Joao Pires
...
Conductor:
Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
Kent Nagano,
Sir Thomas Beecham,
Alberto Lysy
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Camerata Lysy,
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 556482
Release Date: 08/05/2016
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Maurice Ravel,
George Frideric Handel,
Antonio Vivaldi
...
Performer:
Yehudi Menuhin,
Barry Tuckwell,
Mikhail Rudy,
Maria-Joao Pires
...
Conductor:
Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
Kent Nagano,
Sir Thomas Beecham,
Alberto Lysy
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Camerata Lysy,
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
...
Label: Decca
Catalog: 002528702
Release Date: 08/05/2016
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Jules Massenet,
Erik Satie,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven
...
Performer:
Joshua Bell,
Pascal Rogé,
Emma Johnson,
Vladimir Ashkenazy
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Music Lab Collective
Label: Indesens
Catalog: 78
Release Date: 06/24/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Georges Delerue,
Aaron Copland,
Samuel Barber,
Leonard Bernstein
...
Performer:
Eric Aubier,
Philippe Berrod,
Nicolas Prost,
Laurent Wagschal
...
Conductor:
Sébastien Billard,
Claude Schnitzler,
Fabrice Colas
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Garde Republicaine Orchestra,
Bretagne Symphony Orchestra,
Paris Light Band
Label: Urania Records
Catalog: 262
Release Date: 06/24/2016
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Claude Debussy,
Francis Poulenc,
Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Arthur Honegger
...
Performer:
Carol Smith,
Victoria de los Angeles,
Phyllis Curtin,
Adele Addison
Conductor:
Lorna Cooke De Varon,
Charles Munch
Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 002475402
Release Date: 04/29/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Aaron Copland,
William Schuman,
Samuel Barber,
Leonard Bernstein
Conductor:
Leonard Bernstein
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Audite
Catalog: 95639
Release Date: 02/12/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Arcangelo Corelli,
Gioachino Rossini,
Paul Hindemith,
Dmitri Shostakovich
...
Performer:
Antonio Janigro,
Stefano Passaggio
Conductor:
Antonio Janigro
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 553645
Release Date: 01/08/2016
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Alfred Newman,
Richard Strauss,
John Williams,
Richard Wagner
...
Performer:
Ernest Blanc,
Nicolai Gedda,
Gary Hoffman,
Gérard Caussé
...
Conductor:
Paul Bateman,
Rudolf Kempe,
Geoff Love,
Mariss Jansons
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Jean-Marie Leclair,
The Hungarian Quartet,
Il Giardino Armonico
...
Label: Arthaus Musik
Catalog: 101798
Release Date: 11/13/2015
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Frédéric Chopin,
Igor Stravinsky,
Samuel Barber,
Adolphe Adam
...
Conductor:
Viktor Fedotov
Orchestra/Ensemble:
St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater Orchestra
Label: Arthaus Musik
Catalog: 101799
Release Date: 11/13/2015
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Frédéric Chopin,
Igor Stravinsky,
Samuel Barber,
Adolphe Adam
...
Conductor:
Viktor Fedotov
Orchestra/Ensemble:
St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater Orchestra
Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 002403602
Release Date: 11/13/2015
Number of Discs: 24
Composer:
Anonymous,
Pérotin,
Guillaume de Machaut,
John Dunstable
...
Performer:
Konrad Ragossnig,
Charles [Tenor Vocals] Daniels,
Susan Gritton,
Trevor Pinnock
...
Conductor:
Pater Godehard Joppich,
David Munrow,
Josef Ulsamer,
Bruno Turner
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Early Music Consort of London,
Ulsamer-Collegium,
Pro Cantione Antiqua
...
Label: Brilliant Classics
Catalog: 94982
Release Date: 10/28/2014
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
George Frideric Handel,
Richard Wagner,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Sir Edward Elgar
...
Performer:
Wynne Evans,
Donald Maxwell,
Deborah Norman
Conductor:
Owain Arwel Hughes,
Philip Ellis,
Nick Davies
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
Goldsmith's Choral Union Choir
Label: Sony
Catalog: 301330
Release Date: 10/27/2014
Number of Discs: 80
Composer:
Samuel Barber,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonio Vivaldi,
Béla Bartók
...
Performer:
Isaac Stern,
Leonard Bernstein,
Harold Gomberg,
William Heim
...
Conductor:
Leonard Bernstein,
Seiji Ozawa,
Maurice Peress
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Philharmonic,
New York Philharmonic members,
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
...
Recommendation
Label: Rca
Catalog: 302633
Release Date: 09/16/2014
Number of Discs: 73
Composer:
Arthur Smith,
Various,
Traditional,
Stan Lebowsky
...
Performer:
James Galway,
Sylvia,
Marisa Robles,
Phillip Moll
...
Conductor:
Claudio Scimone,
Sir Neville Marriner,
Jörg Faerber,
Eduardo Mata
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Solisti Veneti,
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields,
Galway Pops Orchestra
...
Label: Decca
Catalog: 002081902
Release Date: 06/03/2014
Number of Discs: 28
Composer:
George Frideric Handel,
Arcangelo Corelli,
Giuseppe Torelli,
Pietro Antonio Locatelli
...
Performer:
Gwynne Howell,
Philip Langridge,
Anna Reynolds,
Elly Ameling
...
Conductor:
Sir Neville Marriner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields,
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chorus,
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
Recommendation
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 2027800
Release Date: 04/22/2014
Number of Discs: 60
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Johannes Brahms,
Leonard Bernstein,
Benjamin Britten
...
Performer:
René Kollo,
Dame Gwyneth Jones,
Kurt Moll,
Hanna Schwarz
...
Conductor:
Leonard Bernstein,
Michael Tilson Thomas,
Kent Nagano
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vienna State Opera Concert Choir,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
...
Recommendation
Label: Mirare
Catalog: 244
Release Date: 04/08/2014
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Samuel Barber,
Leonard Bernstein,
George Gershwin,
Bernard Herrmann
...
Performer:
Tai Murray,
Jean-François Heisser
Conductor:
Jean-François Heisser
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestre Poitou Charentes