Essay for Orchestra (Barber)
Encyclopedia
Samuel Barber
's Essay for Orchestra (Op
. 12), completed in the first half of 1938, is an orchestral work in one movement. It was given its first performance by Arturo Toscanini
with the NBC Symphony Orchestra
on November 5, 1938 in New York in a radio broadcast concert in which the composer's Adagio for Strings
saw its first performance. It lasts around 8 minutes and is dedicated "To C.E.". The essay is now known as the First Essay for Orchestra after Barber wrote his Second Essay for Orchestra
in 1942. He wrote his Third Essay for Orchestra in 1978.
Barber visited Toscanini several times in 1933 and the world famous conductor told Barber that he would like to perform one of his works. This was a great honor for the young composer, particularly because Toscanini rarely performed works by contemporary or American composers. Barber presented his work to Toscanini in 1938.
The Essay is abstract and non-programmatic
. It resembles but is not equivalent to a first movement of a symphony.
Besides the world premiere in 1938, Toscanini also performed the music on January 24, 1942, in a special War Bonds performance that was preserved on transcription discs; Toscanini never made a commercial recording of the music. Eugene Ormandy
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
recorded the music in 1942 for RCA Victor in the Academy of Music. Leonard Slatkin
and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
recorded all three of Barber's Essays for Orchestra.
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
's Essay for Orchestra (Op
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
. 12), completed in the first half of 1938, is an orchestral work in one movement. It was given its first performance by Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
with the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
on November 5, 1938 in New York in a radio broadcast concert in which the composer's Adagio for Strings
Adagio for Strings
Adagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year as he wrote the quartet...
saw its first performance. It lasts around 8 minutes and is dedicated "To C.E.". The essay is now known as the First Essay for Orchestra after Barber wrote his Second Essay for Orchestra
Second Essay for Orchestra (Barber)
Samuel Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra , completed 15 March 1942 is an orchestral work in one movement. It was premiered by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall 16 April 1942. It lasts around 11 minutes and is dedicated to Robert Horan.The work was commissioned by Bruno...
in 1942. He wrote his Third Essay for Orchestra in 1978.
Barber visited Toscanini several times in 1933 and the world famous conductor told Barber that he would like to perform one of his works. This was a great honor for the young composer, particularly because Toscanini rarely performed works by contemporary or American composers. Barber presented his work to Toscanini in 1938.
The Essay is abstract and non-programmatic
Program music
Program music or programme music is a type of art music that attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music...
. It resembles but is not equivalent to a first movement of a symphony.
Besides the world premiere in 1938, Toscanini also performed the music on January 24, 1942, in a special War Bonds performance that was preserved on transcription discs; Toscanini never made a commercial recording of the music. Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
recorded the music in 1942 for RCA Victor in the Academy of Music. Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
recorded all three of Barber's Essays for Orchestra.