Samuel Barber Influences

As the production of art songs among modernist composers faded, the young Samuel Barber was just getting his start as a composer, first gaining recognition in 1928 after winning the Bearns award for a violin sonata, and then again in 1931 with his Overture for The School for Scandal. 12 In the years that followed, Barber became a prolific song composer, anchoring his style in the Romantic traditions developed during the heyday of the European art song. Though judged by critics as “conservative,” Barber’s prowess at song composition was enhanced by his Romantic influences. Returning to the understanding of art song as developed by Parry and Upton, it is apparent that the method defined is how Barber approached the composition of his songs: he consistently showcased the …show more content…
Upton comments on the decrease in song writing throughout the music community in his article “Aspects of the Modern ArtSongWhile Modernist poems did not make for easy adaptation into song, the texts that Barber utilized for his compositions worked especially well. Barber was drawn to texts that had regular metric patterns and rhyme schemes, and that also produced within him a meaningful reaction. As Jean Louise Kreiling notes in her doctoral dissertation, “Samuel Barber’s selection and handling of texts suggests that his creative attention could be drawn by a sonorous rhyme scheme, a striking image, an eloquent formal design, and/or a compelling atmosphere—and that his musical forms and methods were governed by such varying responses.44 As an avid reader of slightly earlier works, Barber was intrigued by these more traditional elements of poetry described above. Coincidently, these works made for excellent song writing, when compared to the Modernist poetry written by Barber’s contemporaries. The songs of Samuel Barber are a unique collection that well represents his musical