Barber: 100th Anniversary - Adagio

Sir Thomas Allen - Baritone, Barbara Hendricks - Soprano, Michael tilson Thomas - Conductor, Roger Vignoles - Piano, Endellion String Quartet, Sir Simon Rattle - Conductor

Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings, Violin Concerto, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Essay for Orchestra, Overture to 'The SChool for Scandal', Medea's Dance of Vengeance, Dover Beach, Piano Sonata, Excursions, Summer Music, Three Sngs op.2, String Quartet

Somewhere is the fanfare of Anniverasry years of Chopin and Schumann, Samuel Barber's Anniversary was seemingly forgotten, but not by EMI. This 2CD commemorative set marks the centenary, in 2010, of Barber's birth and gives a fairly rounded picture of Barber the composer, including the ever-popular Adagio for Strings and other orchestral, chamber and song music. Samuel Barber came into the world on 9 March 1910 at West Chester, Pennsylvania. His father was a doctor, his mother a pianist and the Irish-American family into which he was born was comfortably off, educated and well-respected. His aunt was the distinguished contralto, Louise Homer, who sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and her husband, Sidney Homer, was a well-known composer of American art songs. With such a background it is hardly surprising that Barber expressed an interest in becoming a composer himself and, at the age of seven, he wrote his first musical, followed by an opera at the age of 10. It was through his aunt that Barber developed a love of the voice and, when first taking up music studies at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, he chose to study voice. Barber himself had a very fine light baritone voice and made a recording of his own Dover Beach. It was whilst at the Curtis Institute that Barber met fellow-composer, Gian-Carlo Menotti. The two became firm friends as well as lifelong partners, only being separated by Barber's death, caused by cancer, in 1981. The first disc starts with the ever-popular Adagio for Strings in its orchestral guise; continues with the lively overture to The School for Scandal – written in 1931, which was Barber's first work for orchestra. This is followed by the 1939 Violion Concerto, with its exquisite slow movement – another early illustration of the composer's gift for melody – and then comes what is, perhaps, Barber's most 'American' piece, Knoxville: Summer 1915, a beautifully nostalgic work for soprano and orchestra. Then the first of the three fine Essays for Orchestra, written in 1937, 1942 and 1978 and, finally, the disc ends with a piece extracted from the 1946 ballet Medea. The second CD is made up of some of Barber's better-known chamber music and songs. Dover Beach is an evocative setting of a poem by Matthew Arnold, written in 1931 for baritone and string quartet. Then two examples of Barber's piano music: the Excursions, Op.20, from 1942-44 and the Piano Sonata written in 1949. These are followed by one of the most charming of 20th century chamber works, the 1955 Summer Music for woodwind quintet. There follows four early songs, one from a group of three written between 1927-34 and the Op.10 group, written between 1935-36. The last item on the disc is the String Quartet written in 1936, the slow movement of which Barber arranged for string orchestra two years later as the Adagio for Strings.

Price: $21.98