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Samuel BarberAmerican composer
Date of Birth: 09.03.1910
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber was an American composer born on March 9, 1910, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He showed signs of musical talent at a young age and began studying music at the age of six. At thirteen, he was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied piano, voice, composition, and conducting with renowned musicians such as Fritz Reiner.
During World War II, Barber served in the United States Air Force. In April 1945, he was elected an honorary member of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. In the summer seasons of 1947 and 1948, he served as a musical consultant for the American Academy in Rome.
Barber's compositions that brought him worldwide fame include "Adagio for Strings," orchestral essays No. 1 and No. 2, Capricorn Concerto for flute, oboe, trumpet, and strings, cello and piano sonatas, and the opera "Vanessa." His first symphony was premiered in Rome in 1936 and performed again at the Salzburg Festival in 1937. The premiere of his second symphony was conducted by Sergei Koussevitzky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1944. His ballet "Medea, Cave of the Heart," commissioned by Martha Graham, remains one of his most famous theatrical compositions.
In 1964, Barber received a commission to compose the opera "Antony and Cleopatra," based on Shakespeare's play. He collaborated with director Franco Zeffirelli on the libretto. The premiere of this work marked the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House on September 16, 1966.
Throughout his life, Barber received numerous awards and honors, including two Pulitzer Prizes (1958 and 1963). His expressive musical style was primarily romantic and lyrical, and he preferred the expressive means of the 19th century over 20th-century "isms" such as neoclassicism, atonality, and twelve-tone music. Barber's technical mastery and objective, neutral style became the hallmark of his mature compositions.
