Samul Barber Research Paper
Alt. Assignment
Hannah Yang
3B
Samuel Barber
(March 9, 1910 - Jan 23, 1981)
Samuel Osborne Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was son to Marguerite McLeod and Samuel Le Roy Barber and brother to Sara Barber. His father was a physician and his mother was a pianist. His family was on the wealthy side, and they were able to provide him with piano and voice lessons. He excelled, showed great talent in music, writing his first piece at the age of 7 (Sadness). He also played the organ at his church when he turned 12. Although his parents were against Barber pursuing his music career, his aunt and uncle saw his potential and pushed him into chasing his dreams.
As he entered his teens, Barber started attending the Curtis Institute of Music. He was identified …show more content…
as a triple prodigy in composition, voice, and piano, catching the interest of the institute’s founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. She was the one who brought him to his lifelong publisher, the Schirmer famiy. He even won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize from Columbia University for composing a violin sonata. He continued to win awards throughout his years, including the Pulitzer Prize.
Barbers musical style is classified as neo-romantic.
His music is very melodic and contains complex harmonies. Barber wrote concertos, overtures, sonatas, operas, etc. He wrote more than 100 songs in his lifetime but only 38 were published. Some of his most famous works include “School for Scandal”, “Vanessa”, and “Knoxville”.
Gian Carlo Menotti was one of his closest friends, after they met at the Curtis Institute of Music as children. They had a strong connection, seeing that they were both composers. Charles Turner was also a good friend of Barbers’. He was a jazz trumpeter. He maintained his friendship with Barber until he was on his deathbed. Most of Barbers’ many friends were musicians, or knew him because of music. Barber worked for different commissioners. He wrote a piece for the Russian cellist Raya Garbousouva called the “Cello Concerto” and many others.
Samuel Barber became severely depressed after receiving very harsh criticism for his work “Antony and Cleopatra”, starting his alcoholism. Samuel Barber is no longer alive, he lost to a battle with lymphatic cancer at the age of 70. He continued composing until he could no longer write anything due to his
illness.
Adagio for Strings is the most well-known work of Samuel Barber. It is the second part of a string quartet called, String Quartet, Op. 11. It is a sad song that is simple, yet gloomy. The song has been performed for many unhappy occasions including President Kennedy’s death.
Works Cited http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=72 http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/barber.php http://www.npr.org/2006/11/04/6427815/the-impact-of-barbers-adagio-for-strings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Barber
Hannah Yang
3B
Samuel Barber
(March 9, 1910 - Jan 23, 1981)
Samuel Osborne Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was son to Marguerite McLeod and Samuel Le Roy Barber and brother to Sara Barber. His father was a physician and his mother was a pianist. His family was on the wealthy side, and they were able to provide him with piano and voice lessons. He excelled, showed great talent in music, writing his first piece at the age of 7 (Sadness). He also played the organ at his church when he turned 12. Although his parents were against Barber pursuing his music career, his aunt and uncle saw his potential and pushed him into chasing his dreams.
As he entered his teens, Barber started attending the Curtis Institute of Music. He was identified …show more content…
as a triple prodigy in composition, voice, and piano, catching the interest of the institute’s founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. She was the one who brought him to his lifelong publisher, the Schirmer famiy. He even won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize from Columbia University for composing a violin sonata. He continued to win awards throughout his years, including the Pulitzer Prize.
Barbers musical style is classified as neo-romantic.
His music is very melodic and contains complex harmonies. Barber wrote concertos, overtures, sonatas, operas, etc. He wrote more than 100 songs in his lifetime but only 38 were published. Some of his most famous works include “School for Scandal”, “Vanessa”, and “Knoxville”.
Gian Carlo Menotti was one of his closest friends, after they met at the Curtis Institute of Music as children. They had a strong connection, seeing that they were both composers. Charles Turner was also a good friend of Barbers’. He was a jazz trumpeter. He maintained his friendship with Barber until he was on his deathbed. Most of Barbers’ many friends were musicians, or knew him because of music. Barber worked for different commissioners. He wrote a piece for the Russian cellist Raya Garbousouva called the “Cello Concerto” and many others.
Samuel Barber became severely depressed after receiving very harsh criticism for his work “Antony and Cleopatra”, starting his alcoholism. Samuel Barber is no longer alive, he lost to a battle with lymphatic cancer at the age of 70. He continued composing until he could no longer write anything due to his
illness.
Adagio for Strings is the most well-known work of Samuel Barber. It is the second part of a string quartet called, String Quartet, Op. 11. It is a sad song that is simple, yet gloomy. The song has been performed for many unhappy occasions including President Kennedy’s death.
Works Cited http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=72 http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/barber.php http://www.npr.org/2006/11/04/6427815/the-impact-of-barbers-adagio-for-strings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Barber