Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Serenade for Strings

Violin Concerto

One of the best loved and most frequently performed American composers of the twentieth century, Samuel Barber developed his own highly individual voice quite independent of the modernist mainstream. Intent on ploughing his own musical furrow, Barber sought to unite the extended tonal palette of late nineteenth century Romanticism with an unabashed lyricism and emotional candour. Producing major works in a range of genres his œuvre includes the celebrated Adagio for Strings, three concertos, two symphonies, numerous songs and the operas Vanessa and Antony and Cleopatra, the former described by the critic of the New Yorker as "the finest and most truly ‘operatic’ opera ever written by an American", a work for which Barber was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1958. The second opera was commissioned for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in 196