Biography (read more)
Samuel Barber was an American composer of the mid-20th century, trained at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and based for much of his life at his Mount Kisco, New York estate, Capricorn, and later in Manhattan. Roughly two-thirds of his output was vocal music—art songs, choral works, and orchestral songs—alongside four concertos (for violin, cello, piano, and the Capricorn Concerto), three operas, symphonies, and concert overtures such as the Adagio for Strings, arranged from his String Quartet. He died in his Manhattan apartment in January 1981 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer.
Barber enjoyed unusually early, sustained, and lasting critical and popular acclaim among American composers, winning two Pulitzer Prizes and the Rome Prize among other honors. His Adagio for Strings achieved a rare and enduring place in the orchestral and popular repertoire alike, and his lyrical, tonally rooted idiom, at odds with the mid-century avant-garde, has kept his music among the most consistently performed by an American composer.
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Repertoire
Vanessa: Act I: “Must the winter come so soon?”
Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: I. Allegro energico— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: II. Allegro vivace e leggero— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: IV. Fuga. Allegro con spirito— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Piano Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: I. Allegro energico— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Piano Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: II. Allegro vivace e leggero— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Piano Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: III. Adagio mesto— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Piano Sonata in E-Flat Minor, Op. 26: IV. Fuga. Allegro con spirito— Vladimir Horowitz
Performed by Vladimir Horowitz
Cello Concerto, Op. 22: I. Allegro moderato (2004 Remastered)— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Cello Concerto, Op. 22: II. Andante sostenuto (2004 Remastered)— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Cello Concerto, Op. 22: III. Molto allegro e apassionato (2004 Remastered)— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Violin Concerto, Op. 14: II. Andante (2004 Remastered)— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Violin Concerto, Op. 14: III. Presto in moto perpetuo (2004 Remastered)— Steven Isserlis
Performed by Steven Isserlis
Barber: 2 Songs, Op. 18: The Queen’s Face on the Summery Coin. Andante con moto— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 2: No. 1, The Daisies. Allegretto con grazie— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 2: No. 2, With Rue My Heart Is Laden. Andante cantabile— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 2: No. 3, Bessie Bobtail. Andante un poco mosso – Adagio— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 10: No. 1, Rain Has Fallen. Moderato— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 10: No. 2, Sleep Now. Andante tranquillo— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 10: No. 3, I Hear An Army. Allegro con fuoco— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 4 Songs, Op. 13: No. 1, A Nun Takes The Veil. Broad and Sustained— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 4 Songs, Op. 13: No. 2, The Secrets of The Old. Allegro giocoso— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 4 Songs, Op. 13: No. 3, Sure On This Shining Night. Andante— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 4 Songs, Op. 13: No. 4, Nocturne. Andante, un poco mosso— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Mélodies passagères, Op. 27: No. 1, Puisque tout passe. Moderato— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Mélodies passagères, Op. 27: No. 2, Un cygne. Moderato— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Mélodies passagères, Op. 27: No. 3, Tombeau dans un parc. Lento e sereno— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Mélodies passagères, Op. 27: No. 4, Le clocher chante. Non troppo allegro— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 1, At Saint Patrick’s Purgatory— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 2, Church Bell at Night— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 4, The Heavenly Banquet— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 8, The Monk and His Cat— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 10, The Desire for Hermitage— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Despite and Still, Op. 41: No. 1, A Last Song. Moderato— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Despite and Still, Op. 41: No. 2, My Lizard. Fast and Light— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Despite and Still, Op. 41: No. 3, In The WildeIrness. Flowing— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Despite and Still, Op. 41: No. 4, Solitary Hotel. Like a Rather Fast Tango in 2— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Despite and Still, Op. 41: No. 5, Despite and Still – Fast and Darkly Impassioned— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 45: No. 1, Now I Have Fed and Eaten Up the Rose – Moderato— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 45: No. 2, A Green Lowland of Pianos – Allegretto con grazia— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 45: No. 3, O Boundless, Boundless Evening – Tranquillo,un poco— Thomas Hampson
Performed by Thomas Hampson
Barber: Vanessa – opera in 4 Acts / Act 1: “He has come…do not utter a word, Anatol”— Renée Fleming
Performed by Renée Fleming