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Artist
Samuel Barber
12+ albums
Classicalcontemporary classicalinstrumentalcomposersamerican
about
Samuel Osborne Barber (March 9, 1910–January 23, 1981) was an American composer of classical music, best known for his Adagio for Strings. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and began to compose at the age of seven. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia before becoming a fellow of the American Academy in Rome in 1935. The following year he wrote his String Quartet in B minor, the second movement of which he would arrange, at Arturo Toscanini's suggestion, for string orchestra as Adagio for Strings, and again for mixed chorus as Agnus Dei. He tended to avoid the experimentalism of some other American composers of his generation, preferring relatively traditional harmonies and forms until late in his life. Most of his work is lushly melodic and has often been described as neo-romantic, though some of his later works, notably the Third Essay and the Dance of Vengeance, display a masterful use of percussive effects, modernism, and neo-Stravinskian effects. His songs, accompanied by piano or orchestra, are among the most popular 20th-century songs in the classical repertoire. They include a setting of Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach, originally written for string quartet and baritone, the Hermit Songs on anonymous Irish texts of the 8th to 13th centuries, and Knoxville: Summer of 1915, written for the soprano Eleanor Steber and based on an autobiographical text by James Agee, the introductory portion of his novel A Death in the Family. Barber possessed
top songs
1
Adagio For Strings
229,5962Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
188,8743Barber: Adagio for Strings
109,5754Barber: Adagio For Strings, Op. 11
80,9235Agnus Dei
30,7936Adagio For Strings op.11
22,7697Adagio For Strings {6}
20,9288String Quartet, Op. 11: II. Molto adagio
14,8709Adagio for Strings, Op.11
11,41710Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11a
9,594albums
Samuel Barber - Adagio
Samuel Barber - Adagio (100th anniversary)
Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
BARBER: Cello Concerto / Medea Suite / Adagio for Strings
Barber: Adagio for Strings
![Barber's Adagio and other Romantic Favorites for Strings [Expanded Edition]](https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/174s/39a4cc59d779d44eedf2d55225aa59f0.png)
Barber's Adagio and other Romantic Favorites for Strings [Expanded Edition]
BARBER: Violin Concerto / Serenade for Strings / Souvenirs
BARBER: Unaccompanied Choral Music
BARBER: Piano Sonata, Op. 26 / Excursions / Souvenirs
This Is Classical - the Universe's Best Easy Listening Album of All Time
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Hall Of Fame 2000
Barber: Cello Concerto - Medea Suite - Adagio for Strings