Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber ! It would seem, when comparing the lives of some of the most accomplished
composers of music in history, that many of them struggled a great deal, both in the music world and in their own personal lives, to make their way to fame. Samuel Barberʼs life, early and late, was no different. He came of age beset by war, of the generation that suffered the greatest global unrest yet known. While his parents eventually supported his musical endeavors, his mother for awhile insisted that he partake in activities of a “normal American boy” (Broder). Having never embraced the new compositional ideals at the time, Barberʼs compositions were too astringent to appeal to the bulk of listeners, and not overtly “complex” enough to be taken seriously by the modernists (Felsenfeld). Much later in his life, his opera, Antony and Cleopatra, would go down as one of the biggest flops in opera history. Regardless, these hardships and failures helped shape Barberʼs career and, more notably, his music, which in turn has influenced and shaped the world. ! Samuel Osborne Barber II was born on March 9th, 1910, in Westchester,
Pennsylvania, to his mother, Marguerite McLeod, and his father, Samuel Le Roy Barber. His father come from a long line of tradesman and professional relatives which, naturally, lead to his becoming of a physician. It would be his fathers hopes of Barber studying medicine at Princeton that would somewhat hinder his musical development at his early age. To his motherʼs family, on the other hand, music was familiar and quite important. His motherʼs sister, Louise Homer, not only gained reputation in the music world while singing solos in oratorios, eventually premiering operas at the Metropolitan,
and ending her long and successful career as one of the greatest American singers of her time, but also through her relationship and marriage to the composer Sidney Homer. His works are still ranked high among the American songs written during the first
composers of music in history, that many of them struggled a great deal, both in the music world and in their own personal lives, to make their way to fame. Samuel Barberʼs life, early and late, was no different. He came of age beset by war, of the generation that suffered the greatest global unrest yet known. While his parents eventually supported his musical endeavors, his mother for awhile insisted that he partake in activities of a “normal American boy” (Broder). Having never embraced the new compositional ideals at the time, Barberʼs compositions were too astringent to appeal to the bulk of listeners, and not overtly “complex” enough to be taken seriously by the modernists (Felsenfeld). Much later in his life, his opera, Antony and Cleopatra, would go down as one of the biggest flops in opera history. Regardless, these hardships and failures helped shape Barberʼs career and, more notably, his music, which in turn has influenced and shaped the world. ! Samuel Osborne Barber II was born on March 9th, 1910, in Westchester,
Pennsylvania, to his mother, Marguerite McLeod, and his father, Samuel Le Roy Barber. His father come from a long line of tradesman and professional relatives which, naturally, lead to his becoming of a physician. It would be his fathers hopes of Barber studying medicine at Princeton that would somewhat hinder his musical development at his early age. To his motherʼs family, on the other hand, music was familiar and quite important. His motherʼs sister, Louise Homer, not only gained reputation in the music world while singing solos in oratorios, eventually premiering operas at the Metropolitan,
and ending her long and successful career as one of the greatest American singers of her time, but also through her relationship and marriage to the composer Sidney Homer. His works are still ranked high among the American songs written during the first
Cited: Felsenfeld, Daniel. Britten and Barber: Their Lives and Their Music. Pompton Plains, ! NJ: Amadeus, 2005. Print. Broder, Nathan. Samuel Barber. New York: G. Schirmer, 1954. Print. Barbara B. Heyman. "Barber, Samuel." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. ! Oxford University Press. Web. 10 Apr. 2013..