Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music

by Barbara B. Heyman

Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was one of the most important and honored American composers of the twentieth century. Writing in a great variety of musical forms--symphonies, concertos, operas, vocal music, and chamber music--he infused his works with poetic lyricism and gave tonal language and forms new vitality. His rich legacy includes such famous compositions as the Adagio for Strings , the orchestral song Summer of 1915 , three concertos, and his two operas, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vanessa and Antony and Cleopatra , a commissioned work that opened the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. Generously documented by letters, sketchbooks, original musical manuscripts, and interviews with friends, colleagues and performers with whom he worked, this is the first book to cover Barber's entire career and all of his compositions. The biographical material on Barber is closely interspersed with a discussion of his music, displaying Barber's creative processes at work
from his early student compositions to his mature masterpieces. Heyman also provides the social context in which this major composer his education, how he built his career, the evolving musical tastes of American audiences, his relationship to musical giants like Serge Koussevitzky, and the role of radio in the promotion of his music. A testament to the significance of the new Romanticism, Samuel Barber stands as a model biography of an important American musical figure.

Genres: Music, Biography

608 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 1992

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samual Barber. How little I knew of him and that's all changed. I began prepping for this read by listening to some pieces that I hadn't heard before and immediately became intrigued. Jaw-dropping moments of, what? Composer of Adagio for Strings also wrote these works??
And then the book spared no expense to give great detail about the pieces, like geographical, chronological, the state of the composer, the music theory behind the pieces. It was an utter joy to discover Barber this way. I of course came across his name in university in music history class but don't think we did any in depth study on his life and works.
Immediate take-aways
1. The man wasn't afraid to revise. Even after performances, he'd make changes and by the next performance the works would be altered a bit. And not just once or twice. Gotta respect that.
2. Sidney Homer. His ever supportive, uncle writing him such profound and encouraging letters. Mentor and uncle. He was a composer himself and Samuel and he corresponded from 1922-1953 Homer's death.
3. What a life. Traveled the world. Lived in so many places. Commissions. Successes. Even at the end, a failed opera, a sold estate, through alcoholism and depression he still managed to get some works out.
4. Loads of talent and loads of training. Curtis Institute of Music. Even later in life he worked with famed conductors to hone that skill, which was short-lived but he still wasn't too prideful to study.
5. Barber studied piano, voice and composition, and later conducting.
6. Barber wrote operas, ballets, orchestral music, band music, chamber music, solo piano music, choral music including many songs (voice and piano). He was friends with poets and constantly reading poetry for enjoyment and to find text to set to music.
Favorite pieces
Adagio for Strings (started as a mvt in a quartet. He later scored it for orchestra and later still for voices. (Agnes Dei)
Piano concerto no 38. The second mvt especially.
Overture to The School for Scandal
Music for a Scene from Shelley
Sonata for Piano
Nocturne
Prayers of Kierkegaard
Reincarnations (Mary Hynes/Anthony O'Daly/The Coolin
Let Down the bars, O Death
Three Songs, op 2: especially Bessie Bobtail
Canzonetta for Oboe and String Orchestra, op 48
and I'll continue listening to these my favorites and his others which I've only touched on.

"I suppose if I'm writing music for words, then I immerse myself in those words, and I let the music flow out of them. When I write an abstract piano sonata or a concerto, I write what I feel."

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid and interesting biography, with exactly the right amount of musical analysis and description. The chronology of Barber's works drives the book's organization, which occasionally results in some overlap and mild repetition of life events, but does give a lot of insight into the development of Barber's musical and professional life. Heyman gave just enough information about the pieces discussed to give the reader a clear picture of Barber's style and development as a composer without bogging the text down in lengthy or overly technical details. My only slight criticism is that Heyman is very reticent about Barber's personal life and relationships, which makes the book distant and detached at times. I'm not interested in salacious or gossipy details, but it would have been good to have more context for some of the events and aspects of Barber's life and career. For example, Heyman states that the death of Barber's sister threw him into a depression, but there is no real discussion of their relationship in the previous chapters or at that point that could render this statement more meaningful. Did her death hit him hard because they were close or because they were estranged, or because she played an important role in his musical or personal life?

[Jacques · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a well-written biography of a somewhat neglected American composer. The book is constructed in an accessible way, such that life events are not presented in a strictly chronological manner, but the important music is put into rough categories and Barber's life is relayed as it relates to the music. The only problem is that Heyman tends to shy away from the unsavory parts of Barber's life, or the parts that are more taboo, e.g. his alcoholism and depression, romantic relationship with G. C. Menotti, and his noted aloofness. Otherwise, lots of good information and a good way to get to know the music!

[Hollowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for my fave composer!
Heyman's text is the only Barber biography, and it's a good (but expensive!) one. The book finally appeared on Kindle (timed with composers 100th, March 2010) in a more-affordable (MOBI) format.
There is the also the new "Saddest Music" book, also released in 2010.
Some resources for Barber:
French site:
http://www.samuelbarber.fr/eng/biogra...
LOC.gov
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc...

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good book on Samuel Barber. Writer has good blend of humor and info and actually does a good amount of analysis on his pieces.