THREE AUDIO PIECES - ALL MUSIC (This is Samuel Barber's centennial year. The composer was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on March 9, 1910, and died in New York, on January 23, 1981. These posts will offer some of his exquisite vocal music.) REINCARNATIONS, (1940) is a collection of three poems by James Stephens set by Barber for four-part chorus in 1940. By this time Barber had joined the faculty of his alma mater, the Curtis Institute, and was receiving financial support from the chatelaine of Curtis, the wealthy Mary Louis Bok, who was soon to marry Efrem Zimbalist. Toscanini's championing of Barber's First Essay for Orchestra and the Adagio for Strings had brought the young composer celebrity, but I suspect he found the pressure of fame hard to deal with. Rather than a lot of self-promotion, Barber went "home" to Pennsylvania and to Curtis, but he didn't stay long. His relationship with Gian Carlo Menotti ripened into a marriage, and with Mrs. Bok's help a home was purchased for the couple in Mt. Kisco, New York. Barber was about to enter a busy period, collaborating with Martha Graham and the Metropolitan Opera. But not before he turned to the poetry of James Stephens. James Stephens (1882-1950) was an Irish poet "born in the same hour" of James Joyce. Stephens mined Irish myth for his work, and Barber brilliantly captures both the breathlessness, the passion and the sorrow of Stephen's words in Reincarnations. Here's the first of the set, Mary Hynes She is the sky of the sun, she is he dart of love; She is the love of my heart [audio:mary-hynes1.mp3] Anthony O'Daly is my favorite of the three. The lower voices function as a dirge and the high enunciate the text as if "keening". Since your limbs were laid out, the stars do not shine! [audio:anthony-odaly3.mp3] The Coolin is the most loved in the set. Come with me under my coat, and we will drink our fill/Of the milk white goat [audio:the-coolin.mp3] The performanvces come from the CD An American Collection with The Sixteen conducted by Harry Christophers. We'll be exploring more of Samuel Barber's vocal music in weeks to come in his centennial year. He gets lost in the (deserved) success of the Adagio for Strings. Aside form the orchestral music, there are many great songs, Dover Beach, Knoxville:Summer of 1915 and the opera Antony and Cleopatra. Stay tuned.
Christopher Purdy is Classical 101's early morning host, 7-10 a.m. weekdays. He is host and producer of Front Row Center – Classical 101’s weekly celebration of Opera and more – as well as Music in Mid-Ohio, Concerts at Ohio State, and the Columbus Symphony broadcast series. He is the regular pre-concert speaker for Columbus Symphony performances in the Ohio Theater.