Samuel Osborne Barber (March 9, 1910–January 23, 1981) was an American comp… Read Full Bio ↴Samuel Osborne Barber (March 9, 1910–January 23, 1981) was an American composer of classical music, best known for his Adagio for Strings.
He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and began to compose at the age of seven. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia before becoming a fellow of the American Academy in Rome in 1935. The following year he wrote his String Quartet in B minor, the second movement of which he would arrange, at Arturo Toscanini's suggestion, for string orchestra as Adagio for Strings, and again for mixed chorus as Agnus Dei.
He tended to avoid the experimentalism of some other American composers of his generation, preferring relatively traditional harmonies and forms until late in his life. Most of his work is lushly melodic and has often been described as neo-romantic, though some of his later works, notably the Third Essay and the Dance of Vengeance, display a masterful use of percussive effects, modernism, and neo-Stravinskian effects.
His songs, accompanied by piano or orchestra, are among the most popular 20th-century songs in the classical repertoire. They include a setting of Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach, originally written for string quartet and baritone, the Hermit Songs on anonymous Irish texts of the 8th to 13th centuries, and Knoxville: Summer of 1915, written for the soprano Eleanor Steber and based on an autobiographical text by James Agee, the introductory portion of his novel A Death in the Family. Barber possessed a good baritone voice and, for a while, considered becoming a professional singer. He made a few recordings, including his own Dover Beach.
His Piano Sonata, Op. 26 (1949), a piece commissioned by Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin, was first performed by Vladimir Horowitz. It was the first large-scale American piano work to be premiered by such an internationally renowned pianist.
Barber composed three operas. Vanessa, composed to a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti (his partner both professionally and personally), premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was a critical and popular success, and Barber won a Pulitzer Prize for it. At the European premiere it met with a chillier reception, however, and is now little played there, although it remains popular in America.
Barber produced three concertos for solo instruments and orchestra. The first was for violin. The second was for cello. And the third and last was for piano.
The Violin Concerto was written in 1939 and 1940 in Sils-Maria, Switzerland and Paris. The work was premiered by violinist Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy on February 11, 1941. The concerto soon entered the standard violin and orchestral repertoire.
The Cello Concerto was completed in 1945. It was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the Russian cellist Raya Garbousova who premiered it on April 5, 1946. The following year the work won Barber the New York Music Critics' Circle Award.
The Piano Concerto was composed for and premiered by pianist John Browning, on September 24, 1962, with Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center, New York. The work was met with great critical acclaim. It won Barber his second Pulitzer Prize in 1963 and the Music Critics Circle Award in 1964. John Browning played the piece over 500 times in his career, securing its place in the repertoire.
Barber also wrote a virtuosic work for organ and orchestra, Toccata Festiva, for the famed organist E. Power Biggs in the early 1960s. The New York Philharmonic commissioned an oboe concerto, but Barber completed only the slow central Canzonetta before his death.
Among his purely orchestral works, there are two symphonies (1936 and 1944), the overture The School for Scandal (1932), three essays for orchestra (1938, 1942 and 1978), and the late Fadograph of a Yestern Scene (1973). There are also large-scale choral works, including the Prayers of Kierkegaard (1954), based on the writings of the Danish existential theologian, Søren Kierkegaard, and The Lovers (1971), based on Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, by Pablo Neruda.
In addition to the sonata, his piano works include Excursions Op. 20, Three Sketches, Souvenirs, and various other single pieces.
Never a prolific composer, Barber wrote much less after the critical failure of his opera Antony and Cleopatra. This had a libretto by film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli, and had been commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1966. The opera was more favorably received in 1975 presented in the intimate setting of the Juilliard School with the partnership and stage direction of Gian-Carlo Menotti, and was subsequently recorded.
He died in New York City in 1981.
He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and began to compose at the age of seven. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia before becoming a fellow of the American Academy in Rome in 1935. The following year he wrote his String Quartet in B minor, the second movement of which he would arrange, at Arturo Toscanini's suggestion, for string orchestra as Adagio for Strings, and again for mixed chorus as Agnus Dei.
He tended to avoid the experimentalism of some other American composers of his generation, preferring relatively traditional harmonies and forms until late in his life. Most of his work is lushly melodic and has often been described as neo-romantic, though some of his later works, notably the Third Essay and the Dance of Vengeance, display a masterful use of percussive effects, modernism, and neo-Stravinskian effects.
His songs, accompanied by piano or orchestra, are among the most popular 20th-century songs in the classical repertoire. They include a setting of Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach, originally written for string quartet and baritone, the Hermit Songs on anonymous Irish texts of the 8th to 13th centuries, and Knoxville: Summer of 1915, written for the soprano Eleanor Steber and based on an autobiographical text by James Agee, the introductory portion of his novel A Death in the Family. Barber possessed a good baritone voice and, for a while, considered becoming a professional singer. He made a few recordings, including his own Dover Beach.
His Piano Sonata, Op. 26 (1949), a piece commissioned by Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin, was first performed by Vladimir Horowitz. It was the first large-scale American piano work to be premiered by such an internationally renowned pianist.
Barber composed three operas. Vanessa, composed to a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti (his partner both professionally and personally), premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was a critical and popular success, and Barber won a Pulitzer Prize for it. At the European premiere it met with a chillier reception, however, and is now little played there, although it remains popular in America.
Barber produced three concertos for solo instruments and orchestra. The first was for violin. The second was for cello. And the third and last was for piano.
The Violin Concerto was written in 1939 and 1940 in Sils-Maria, Switzerland and Paris. The work was premiered by violinist Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy on February 11, 1941. The concerto soon entered the standard violin and orchestral repertoire.
The Cello Concerto was completed in 1945. It was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the Russian cellist Raya Garbousova who premiered it on April 5, 1946. The following year the work won Barber the New York Music Critics' Circle Award.
The Piano Concerto was composed for and premiered by pianist John Browning, on September 24, 1962, with Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center, New York. The work was met with great critical acclaim. It won Barber his second Pulitzer Prize in 1963 and the Music Critics Circle Award in 1964. John Browning played the piece over 500 times in his career, securing its place in the repertoire.
Barber also wrote a virtuosic work for organ and orchestra, Toccata Festiva, for the famed organist E. Power Biggs in the early 1960s. The New York Philharmonic commissioned an oboe concerto, but Barber completed only the slow central Canzonetta before his death.
Among his purely orchestral works, there are two symphonies (1936 and 1944), the overture The School for Scandal (1932), three essays for orchestra (1938, 1942 and 1978), and the late Fadograph of a Yestern Scene (1973). There are also large-scale choral works, including the Prayers of Kierkegaard (1954), based on the writings of the Danish existential theologian, Søren Kierkegaard, and The Lovers (1971), based on Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, by Pablo Neruda.
In addition to the sonata, his piano works include Excursions Op. 20, Three Sketches, Souvenirs, and various other single pieces.
Never a prolific composer, Barber wrote much less after the critical failure of his opera Antony and Cleopatra. This had a libretto by film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli, and had been commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1966. The opera was more favorably received in 1975 presented in the intimate setting of the Juilliard School with the partnership and stage direction of Gian-Carlo Menotti, and was subsequently recorded.
He died in New York City in 1981.
Barber%3A Adagio For Strings%2C Op. 11
Samuel Barber Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Samuel Barber:
Adagio for Strings (From "Platoon") Самуэль Барбер (1910 - 1981) Умирая, он вряд ли думал о свое…
Adagio for Strings (from Platoon) Самуэль Барбер (1910 - 1981) Умирая, он вряд ли думал о свое…
Adagio for Strings (vocal version) (from Platoon) Самуэль Барбер (1910 - 1981) Умирая, он вряд ли думал о свое…
Agnus Dei Agnus Dei, Qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis. Agnus …
Agnus Dei Op.11 Agnus Dei, Qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis. Agnus …
Agnus Dei, Op. 11 The Lamb of God, Who took the sins of the world, Have…
Barber: Agnus Dei Agnus Dei, Qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis. Agnus …
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@everyfiend835
@@romanlaw5409 how does this apply to this video. I’m a Christian, but I think you shouldn’t force your beliefs on others who are just talking about war and music. Here is some scripture that shows that you should be kind to others
1 John 4:7-11
English Standard Version
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:19
English Standard Version
19 We love because he first loved us.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
English Standard Version
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[a] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
Romans 13:8: "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
Proverbs 3:3-4
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Doesn’t the Bible say that god’s love is unconditional?
Doesn’t the Bible say to love one another?
Doesn’t the Bible say that love endures all?
You should be ashamed of yourself for violating the word of god to feel righteous without considering that he commands to love thy neighbor as yourself.
If you can disprove me with actual scripture I’d be happy to hear, but I will need quotations rather than idiotic ranting about burning in eternal hell.
@melindathao2890
I dedicate this song to my Mother who died recently from covid. She was still young. I really miss her everyday. Love mum 💕 😢 ❣️
@michaelcarr9032
She’s with you
@angelsdontkill113
I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine your pain but I weep with you. I have a daughter who is my best friend so I can say with somewhat certainty that your mother knew and knows how much she is loved.
@scottbarkelew1104
The Whole Song reminds me of my folks wasting away from cancer and my last days with them and the leading up to the dramatic finish is their stepping into Eternity With ✨Jesus✨
@amjh4lah809
I lost my Dad in February. It has devastated me. My sincere condolences 🙏🏻
@dod9208
I m sure wherever you are or whatever you are doing...i m sure she's proud of you😊
May she can RIP🙏🏻
@user-fg7ru2nz5c
I understand why everyone talks about how sad this song makes them feel, but I think we are all missing something with the beauty of this piece. There is a point in the music where the notes get higher and higher and when you feel like the notes can't get any higher, they go one note higher! Its beautiful! It reminds me of our resilience, strength, and joy! Remember, out of the darkness, no matter how deep, comes light!
@simonschweizer9934
God bless you!
Dear brother!
@netto_info
❤❤❤❤❤
@kevinjackson7340
i`v just been told i`m dying with terminal cancer, i haven`t found the light yet.