FOUR AUDIO PIECES - ALL MUSIC Samuel Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He entered the Curtis Institute at fourteen, where his teachers included Isabelle Vengerova, Rosario Scalero and Emilio de Gorgoza. It was at Curtis that Barber met his life partner, fellow composer Gian-Carlo Menotti. Music was in the family: Samuel Barber's aunt was the contralto Louise Homer-her husband Sidney was an eminent composer. Barber died in New York on January 23, 1981. When he was nine years old, Samuel Barber wrote the following letter to his mother:
I was meant to be a composer and will be, I'm sure. Don't ask me to forget this unpleasant thing and go play football--please!
I'm sure football would have done young Sam no harm. It would have come in handy in later years when as America's leading composer he had to grapple with the likes of Toscanini and Rudolph Bing. But he made good use of the time he could have spent at the gridiron: by the age of twenty, Sam, tutored by his Uncle Sidney Homer, was turning out some beautiful songs. At twenty-one, he wrote Dover Beach. A bracing analysis of Matthew Arnold's poem is beyond me. I can respond only to the beauty of the words. I note the imagery of the sea and the falling tides, and the references to the Greeks. Critics have suggested a loss of religious faith, indeed a sense of despair. I get wonder, not despair in the setting Barber composed for baritone and string quartet in 1931. Dover Beach runs just under nine minutes and has remained in the concert repertoire for nearly eighty years. This is a contemplative, understated (at first) that rewards repeated listening. Young baritones should know Dover Beach. It is beautifully set for the voice, and the chance to collaborate with a string quartet -to be a chamber artist-will be the making of a young musician. Musicians young and not so young have recorded this work. The first recording was done by a 24 year old baritone....the composer himself, singing in 1935 with the Curtis String Quartet: [youtube SjPtPmshqIA 490 344] In 1967, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau no less recorded Dover Beach with the Juilliard Quartet. Here's an excerpt: [audio:dover-beach-dieskau.mp3] Occasionally you hear a mezzo soprano or a contralto. Barber was Louise Homer's nephew after all. Louise herself may well have sung this but she was nearing retirement in 1931. Marilyn Horne recorded Dover Beach with the Tokyo String Quartet in 1994. Here's a selection: [audio:dover-beach-horne.mp3] I always hear a man's voice in my head for this work, and it should be a young man's voice, as free form affectation as possible. That's why I love this recent performance by Canadian baritone Gerlad Finley (Love art song? Grab his all Barber CD on Hyperion with pianist Julius Drake. Finley sings Dover Beach with the Aronowitz Ensemble in 2006 [audio:dover-beach-finley.mp3] Don't expect the great melodic sweep Barber provides in songs like Sure on This Shining Night or the charm of Bessie Bobtail or the passion of A Nun Takes the Veil. Dover Beach is understated, and its point is the fusion of Arnold's darkness and pessimism with the imagery of an always changing sea, and Barber's caressing, grateful music. P.S. Here's an encore, not by Barber but by his Uncle, Sidney Homer. The Banjo Song was recorded by Aunt Louise in 1925. [audio:the-banjo-song1.mp3]
