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Donald Macleod delves into a period when Samuel Barber starts looking to old compositions as inspiration for new ones.

Composer of the Week explores the life and music of Samuel Barber, who is only considered one of the most expressive representatives of the Romantic trend in 20th-century classical music, as well as one of the most frequently performed American composers. His most famous score is his early Adagio for Strings; some of his other breakthrough include his Piano Sonata, and the opera Vanessa.

Barber began studying piano from the age of six and started to compose from the age of seven. He went on to take composition lessons with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute of Music and, from this point, he never looked back, quickly becoming one of America’s most famous composers. He wrote in many different genres, including chamber, vocal, orchestral and works for the stage, and often composed in response to significant and highly desirable commissions. He enjoyed close collaboration with the performers he wrote for, shaping his music to their individual styles and capabilities. Only towards the end of his life, when he was struggling with depression, alcoholism and also cancer, did his creative output slow.

During the 1960s, Samuel Barber looked to many of his older works as inspiration for new ones. In 1967 he took his famed Adagio for Strings and adapted it to create a choral setting of the Agnus Dei from the Latin Mass. His work Night Flight derived from his earlier work, the Symphony No 2, and Barber adapted his Canzone for flute and piano into the middle movement of his Piano Concerto. The decade also saw a significant failure for Barber, with his opera Antony and Cleopatra. He wrote the libretto himself, and in collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli who directed and staged the opera, and also designed the costumes and sets. The overall response was not good. The first performance was plagued with problems: Leontyne Price, who performed the lead role of Cleopatra, became stuck in a pyramid and was forced to sing louder in order to be heard by the audience.

My Lizard, Op 41 No 2 (Despite and Still)
Eric Cutler, tenor
Bradley Moore, piano

Canzone, Op 38a
Adam Walker, flute
James Baillieu, piano

Piano Concerto, Op 38 (Allegro appassionato)
Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano
London Symphony Orchestra
Emil Tabakov, conductor

Night Flight, Op 19a
London Symphony Orchestra
David Maesham, conductor

Antony and Cleopatra, Op 40 (Give Me Some Music)
Leontyne Price (Cleopatre), soprano
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Thomas Schippers, conductor

Agnus Dei, Op 11
Accentus Chamber Choir
Laurence Equilbey, director

In the Wilderness, Op 41 No 3 (Despite and Still)
Eric Cutler, tenor
Bradley Moore, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock