Samuel Barber
Violin Concerto
The lasting popularity of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
(1936) may make one assume he was always considered an accomplished composer for
strings. Yet when he came to write his only violin concerto this ability was
questioned by his sponsor, who refused to pay for the work.
The story runs thus: in 1939 soap tycoon Samuel Fels offered Barber a
commission to write a piece for his adopted son, violinist Iso Briselli, a
fellow student with Barber at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia
(both graduated in 1934). Barber took an advance on the commission and traveled
to Switzerland to compose, finishing the first two movements. He continued to
Paris but found the Nazi threat required all Americans to leave the country, so
he returned to the U.S. and showed the unfinished work to his sponsor.
Briselli pronounced the completed movements too simple, wanting something
that would display his virtuosity. Barber assured him that the growing tension
of the first two movements led inevitably to a bravura ending, and soon provided
the proof in a final movement of non-stop brilliance. But Briselli found the
ending too difficult to play (he later claimed it was simply inappropriate for
the first two movements). Fels asked for his advance back, but it had been spent
on Barber's travels. Another student at the Curtis Institute, Herbert Baumel,
was asked to study the piece (for only a few hours) and play it for the school's
founder, Mrs. Curtis Bok, its director, Josef Hofmann, and composer Gian Carlo
Menotti, along with Barber. Baumel proved it could be played and a deal was
struck: Barber kept his half of the commission, Fels and Briselli kept the other
half and relinquished all performance rights. Baumel performed it with the
Curtis Institute orchestra and conductor Fritz Reiner in 1939; the official
public premiere was given by Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra
under the baton of Eugene Ormandy on February 7, 1941. Barber himself provided
the program notes for the latter concert:
The first movement - allegro molto moderato - begins with a lyrical first
subject announced at once by the solo violin, without any orchestral
introduction. This movement as a whole has perhaps more the character of a
sonata than concerto form. The second movement - andante sostenuto - is
introduced by an extended oboe solo. The violin enters with a contrasting and
rhapsodic theme, after which it repeats the oboe melody of the beginning. The
last movement, a perpetual motion, exploits the more brilliant and virtuosic
character of the violin.
Barber's music is said to look both backward to the lush imagery of the
Romantic period and forward to the music of the 20th century, with its jarring
dissonance and jangling rhythmic energy. This concerto's first movement may
best exemplify the theory, juxtaposing a soaring lyrical theme first stated by
the solo violin, a jumping, slightly edgy second theme introduced by the
clarinet, and the straining clashes of the movement's climactic points, when
the violin leaps upward and the full orchestra rushes in with a torrent of
unexpected, anguished sound. Though the tension subsides in a tender coda, it
reappears in the longing, pensive theme of the second movement. Harsh brass or
ominous lower strings interject at times, now loudly, now softly, and the climax
comes with a great, dark chord accented by rolling timpani. The movement is
brought to a solemn conclusion - then the drum sounds again and the violin
launches into the brief, breathless, and brilliant final movement. One must
admit Barber made good on his promise to deliver a virtuoso showpiece.
April 1, 2001
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