Samuel Barber: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Samuel Barber built a mid-century American lyricism out of nineteenth-century bones: nine years of counterpoint with Rosario Scalero at Curtis, a quarter-century of letters from his uncle Sidney Homer, and a trained baritone's instinct for the singing line. This mix traces the Brahmsian inheritance, the Philadelphia conservatory world that formed him, the poets he set, and the partners — Menotti above all — who made the music possible.

The Kynda mix for Samuel Barber

• Key Influence · Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms (1885). Scalero's Curtis regimen was built on strict counterpoint and Austro-German models, and Barber emerged a late Romantic by conviction rather than default. The Fourth's passacaglia finale, its long-breathed string writing and developing variation, underlie Barber's First Symphony's single-movement arch and the stepwise, suspension-laden climb of the Adagio. He never apologized for the lineage while peers chased neoclassicism and serialism.,
• Influencia Obscura · A Banjo Song, Op. 31 by Sidney Homer (1910). Barber's uncle, married to contralto Louise Homer, mentored him by correspondence for more than twenty-five years — longer than any teacher. Homer was a specialist in the American art song, and his craft of fitting English words to melody without distortion is the single clearest technical inheritance in Barber's songs, from the Op. 10 Joyce settings to Hermit Songs. Virtually unperformed today.,
• Local Roots · Symphony No. 6 (Symphony for Band), Op. 69 by Vincent Persichetti (1956). Persichetti was Philadelphia born and bred and taught at the Philadelphia Conservatory while Barber's reputation grew out of Curtis across town. The two represent the city's mid-century tonal-but-modern consensus: clear forms, singable lines, no doctrinal allegiance to serialism. Persichetti's band music carried that Philadelphia idiom into American schools far more widely than concert halls did.,
• Beyond the Medium · Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (prose) by James Agee (1938). Barber read Agee's lyric prose reminiscence of a Tennessee childhood and set it nearly whole for soprano and orchestra in 1947, writing it quickly while his father was dying. The piece is less a song than a spoken memory floated on orchestra, and it exists because Barber trusted non-metrical prose to carry music — an unusual bet for a composer trained in strict forms.,
• Peer · Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (1944). Copland was the other pole of American concert music in Barber's lifetime: populist, Boulanger-trained, consciously constructing a national idiom from hymnody and folk tune, where Barber kept faith with European Romanticism. They shared publishers, audiences and the wartime commissions economy, and the comparison dogged Barber's reviews. The contrast defines both.,
• From the Canon · Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24 by Samuel Barber (1947). Commissioned by Eleanor Steber and composed as his father declined, this is Barber's method distilled: prose rather than verse, a rocking lyric line over translucent orchestration, nostalgia handled without sentimentality. It explains more about his career than the Adagio does — the Adagio is a quartet movement that escaped, while Knoxville is Barber deliberately building a form around a voice.,
• Key Collaborator · The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti (1950). Menotti met Barber at Curtis in 1928; they were partners for roughly four decades, shared the house Capricorn in Mount Kisco, and Menotti wrote the libretti for Vanessa and for the revised Antony and Cleopatra. The Consul, his Pulitzer-winning political opera, shows the dramatic instinct and sense of stage pacing Barber leaned on, having little gift for shaping a libretto himself.,
• Legacy · Symphony No. 1 by John Corigliano (1990). Corigliano represents the American line that kept emotional directness and tonal gravity alive through the serialist decades, and his AIDS elegy functions much as Barber's Adagio did for earlier generations: a communal grieving piece written by a composer unafraid of being moving. The lineage of the American public lament runs straight through Barber to this score.,

What influenced Samuel Barber

• Rosario Scalero. Barber studied composition with Scalero, whom the article identifies as a principal influence. (also via Violin Sonata) “He was born in Pennsylvania and attended the Curtis Institute of Music from 1924 to 1934, studying composition with Rosario Scalero, piano with Isabelle Vengerova (1924-1926), and voice with Emilio de Gogorza.” (Curtis Institute of Music)
• Igor Stravinsky. The article identifies Stravinsky as an influence on a new phase of Barber’s composition. “his Capricorn Concerto was an exercise in Stravinskian neo-classicism, a modern take on a Baroque concerto grosso;” (WETA)
• Emilio de Gogorza. Barber studied voice with de Gogorza. “He was born in Pennsylvania and attended the Curtis Institute of Music from 1924 to 1934, studying composition with Rosario Scalero, piano with Isabelle Vengerova (1924-1926), and voice with Emilio de Gogorza.” (Curtis Institute of Music)
• George Szell. Barber studied conducting privately with Szell. “He also studied conducting with Fritz Reiner and George Szell and briefly considered that as a career option as well.” (WETA)
• Isabelle Vengerova. Vengerova was one of Barber’s piano teachers at Curtis. “He was born in Pennsylvania and attended the Curtis Institute of Music from 1924 to 1934, studying composition with Rosario Scalero, piano with Isabelle Vengerova (1924-1926), and voice with Emilio de Gogorza.” (Curtis Institute of Music)
• Fritz Reiner. Barber studied conducting with Reiner. “He also studied conducting with Fritz Reiner and George Szell and briefly considered that as a career option as well.” (WETA)
• Sidney Homer. Barber studied with his uncle Sidney Homer for more than 25 years. (also via A Banjo Song, Op. 31) “more than 25 years' study with his uncle, the composer Sidney Homer” (Wikipedia)
• Pablo Neruda (1904). Barber composed a cantata based on Neruda's poetry. “Samuel Barber : cantata The Lovers (1971)” (Wikipedia)
• George Frederick Boyle. Boyle was one of Barber’s piano teachers at Curtis. “At Curtis he studied piano with George Frederick Boyle [ 6 ] and Isabelle Vengerova” (Wikipedia)
• Arnold Schoenberg. The article identifies Schoenberg as an influence on a new phase of Barber’s composition. “This new phase was greatly influenced by other composers such as Stravinsky , Schoenberg , Bartók” (Wikipedia)
• John Braun. Barber studied conducting and singing with Braun. “Barber pursued further studies in conducting and singing with John Braun in Vienna in the summers of 1935 and 1936” (Wikipedia)
• Béla Bartók. The article identifies Bartók as an influence on a new phase of Barber’s composition. “This new phase was greatly influenced by other composers such as Stravinsky , Schoenberg , Bartók” (Wikipedia)
• Louise Homer. Louise Homer influenced Barber’s interest in voice. “Louise Homer is known to have influenced Barber's interest in voice. Through his aunt, Barber was introduced to many great singers and songs.” (Wikipedia)
• Nikolai Malko. Barber studied conducting with Malko in preparation for recordings. “To prepare for recordings of his Second Symphony , Cello Concerto and the Medea ballet suite, he studied conducting with Nikolai Malko in 1951.” (Wikipedia)
• William Hatton Green. Barber took private lessons from Green, whom a peer described as an early influence. “As a young boy, Barber took private lessons from William Hatton Green. Constant Vauclain, one of Barber's peers, described Green being one of Barber's greatest early influences.” (Wikipedia)
• Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms (1885). Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (Johannes Brahms) — titan for Samuel Barber (musicbrainz.org)
• Chamber Music by James Joyce (1907). Chamber Music (James Joyce) — culture for Samuel Barber (openlibrary.org)
• Violin Sonata by Rosario Scalero (1920). Violin Sonata (Rosario Scalero) — ghost for Samuel Barber “Principally influenced by nine years' composition studies with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute and more than 25 years' study with his uncle, the composer Sidney Homer, Barber's music usually eschewed the experimental trends of mu…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold (1867). Dover Beach (Matthew Arnold) — culture for Samuel Barber (openlibrary.org)
• Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (prose) by James Agee (1938). Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (prose) (James Agee) — culture for Samuel Barber “Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• A Banjo Song, Op. 31 by Sidney Homer (1910). A Banjo Song, Op. 31 (Sidney Homer) — ghost for Samuel Barber “Principally influenced by nine years' composition studies with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute and more than 25 years' study with his uncle, the composer Sidney Homer, Barber's music usually eschewed the experimental trends of mu…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24 by Richard Strauss (1889). Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24 (Richard Strauss) — titan for Samuel Barber
• Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 by Jean Sibelius (1902). Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 (Jean Sibelius) — titan for Samuel Barber

Peers and kindred spirits

• Gian Carlo Menotti. Menotti became Barber’s partner personally and professionally. (also via Vanessa) “I could immediately understand and appreciate the economy of Menotti’s use of words (so necessary for the singing stage), their utter simplicity (how wonderful to set!) and his sense of theatrical timing, which seems to me unique” (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
• Curtis Institute of Music. Barber taught composition at Curtis from 1939 to 1942. “Many of these students, including Barber, Bolet, Graffman, and Sokoloff returned to Curtis to perpetuate established teaching conventions while simultaneously infusing their own personal styles into the methods and techniques.” (Curtis Institute of Music)
• The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti (1950). The Consul (Gian Carlo Menotti) — collaborator for Samuel Barber “In 1928, he met fellow Curtis schoolmate Gian Carlo Menotti, who became his partner in life as well as in their shared profession.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli. Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli) — collaborator for Samuel Barber “The elaborate production, designed by Franco Zeffirelli, was plagued with technical disasters; it also overwhelmed and obscured Barber's music, which most critics derided as uncharacteristically weak and unoriginal.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Arturo Toscanini. Jacobs identifies Toscanini as the conductor of the broadcast premiere of Barber’s Adagio for Strings. “with the premiere of his Adagio for Strings in 1938 on a live broadcast conducted by Arturo Toscanini” (WETA)
• Martha Graham (1894). Lists Samuel Barber as one of Graham's composer collaborators. “Graham collaborated with many composers including Aaron Copland on Appalachian Spring, Louis Horst, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Carlos Surinach, Norman Dello Joio, and Gian Carlo Menotti.” (Wikipedia)
• Leonard Bernstein. Vanessa (Samuel Barber) — peer for Leonard Bernstein (via Vanessa) “In 1946 he was selected by the United States Department of State to be a member of the American delegation to the first Prague Spring International Music Festival where his music was showcased alongside other prominent American composers…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland. Appalachian Spring (Aaron Copland) — peer for Samuel Barber (musicbrainz.org)
• Toccata and Fugue in D minor (orchestral transcription) by Leopold Stokowski (1926). Toccata and Fugue in D minor (orchestral transcription) (Leopold Stokowski) — geography for Samuel Barber “== Music == === Orchestral === Through the success of his Overture to The School for Scandal (1931), Music for a Scene from Shelley (1933), Adagio for Strings (1936), (First) Symphony in One Movement (1936), (First) Essay for Orchestra (…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Variations on a Theme from Bizet's Carmen by Vladimir Horowitz (1928). Variations on a Theme from Bizet's Carmen (Vladimir Horowitz) — collaborator for Samuel Barber “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 Metropolitan Opera, Vladimir Horowitz, Eleanor St…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Symphony No. 2 'Romantic' by Howard Hanson (1930). Symphony No. 2 'Romantic' (Howard Hanson) — peer for Samuel Barber “Toscanini had rarely performed music by American composers before (an exception was Howard Hanson's Symphony No.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Symphony No. 6 (Symphony for Band), Op. 69 by Vincent Persichetti (1956). Symphony No. 6 (Symphony for Band), Op. 69 (Vincent Persichetti) — geography for Samuel Barber
• Symphony No. 3 by William Schuman (1941). Symphony No. 3 (William Schuman) — peer for Samuel Barber
• La Strada (original score) by Nino Rota (1954). La Strada (original score) (Nino Rota) — geography for Samuel Barber

Who Samuel Barber influenced

• Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Knoxville: Summer of 1915 was set to music by Samuel Barber. “This concert included a November 27, 1960 premiered Knoxville: Summer of 1915, set to music by Samuel Barber and based on A Death in the Family” (Wikipedia)
• Symphony No. 1 by John Corigliano (1990). Symphony No. 1 (John Corigliano) — legacy for Samuel Barber (musicbrainz.org)
• blue cathedral by Jennifer Higdon (2000). blue cathedral (Jennifer Higdon) — legacy for Samuel Barber