Samuel Barber Remembered

Samuel Barber is one of America's most popular classical composers. His widely beloved works include Adagio for Strings and Knoxville: Summer of 1915.

The main source for Samuel Barber Remembered: A Centenary Tribute is a panoply of vivid and eminently readable interviews by Peter Dickinson for a BBC Radio 3 documentary in 1981. The interviewees include Barber's friends, fellow composers, and performers, notably Gian Carlo Menotti, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, Virgil Thomson, soprano Leontyne Price, and pianist John Browning. The book also includes three of the very few interviews extant with Barber himself. Dickinson contributes substantial chapters on Barber's early life and on Barber's reception in England. The book has a foreword by the distinguished composer and admirer of Barber, John Corigliano.

Peter Dickinson, British composer and pianist, has written or edited numerous books about twentieth-century music, including CageTalk: Dialogues with and about John Cage (University of Rochester Press) and three books published by Boydell Press: The Music of Lennox Berkeley; Copland Connotations; and Lord Berners: Composer, Writer, Painter.

Reviews

Wide-ranging and fascinating. . . . Dickinson is a talented interviewer, well prepared and deeply immersed in his topic. . . . Will be appealing to anyone with an interest in post-war American music. MUSIC & LETTERS [Christopher M. Scheer]

Perhaps the most useful anniversary homage. . . . An insightful collection of interviews here transcribed and published in full for the first time. Give[s] insight, opinions, and anecdotes not available anywhere else. [The interviews with Barber himself] are valuable, rare sources of insight into the composer's mind and aesthetic. The production values of his volume are very high. An absolute necessity for scholars of mid-twentieth-century American music, and a thoroughly enjoyable read. MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTES [Luke Howard] A composer as well as a scholar and writer, [Peter] Dickinson brings colorful immediacy to the interviews . . . [and] is generous with illustrations and bibliography. . . . Summing Up: Recommended [for] all readers.CHOICE [Michael Meckna] Sheds much-needed light on Barber's character and artistic persona. BOSTON GLOBE [David Weininger]

A vivid and sympathetic portrait of Samuel Barber through the eyes of those who knew him best-friends, performers, lovers, his publisher, and colleagues. A moving tribute to one of the most important composers of the twentieth century. Barbara Heyman, author of Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music

An absorbing and intimate portrait of one of the finest creative musical figures of our time. Vivian Perlis, biographer of Aaron Copland; founding director of the Oral History, American Music archive at Yale School of Music

Should appeal both to academics, with its copious footnotes, and to general music lovers, with its wealth of anecdotes. . . . Shows how crucial [Barber and Menotti's] relationship was to both composers' artistic development. WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE

Deftly assembled and adroitly annotated. . . . A valuable resource for Barber devotees and an excellent introduction to a man with the simplest of philosophies: `There's no reason music should be difficult for an audience, is there?' CLASSICAL MUSIC

Neatly introduced and painstakingly annotated by . . . the indefatigable American music expert Peter Dickinson. . . . [Its] wealth of personal insights . . . [makes _Samuel Barber Remembered_] an all-round portrait. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE [Anthony Burton]

Details

First Published: 01 Apr 2010
13 Digit ISBN: 9781580463508
Pages: 214
Size: 9 x 6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: University of Rochester Press
Series: Eastman Studies in Music
Subject: Music
BIC Class: AV

Details updated on 25 May 2013

Contents

• 1  Foreword by John Corigliano
• 2  About the 1981 BBC Interviews by Arthur Johnson
• 3  Acknowledgements
• 4  The Formative Years
• 5  Reception in England
• 6  Samuel Barber Interviewed by James Fassett (1949)
• 7  Samuel Barber Interviewed by Robert Sherman (1978)
• 8  Samuel Barber Interviewed by Allan Kozinn (1979)
• 9  Gian Carlo Menotti: Interview with Peter Dickinson, Yester House, Gifford, Scotland, April 6, 1981
• 10  Charles Turner: Interview with Peter Dickinson, New York City, May 13, 1981
• 11  Aaron Copland: Interview with Peter Dickinson, Rock Hill, Peekskill, NY, May 11, 1981
• 12  William Schuman: Interview with Peter Dickinson, 888 Park Avenue, New York City, May 14, 1981
• 13  Virgil Thomson: Interview with Peter Dickinson, Chelsea Hotel, New York City, May 12, 1981
• 14  Leontyne Price: Interview with Peter Dickinson, New York City, May 14, 1981
• 15  John Browning: Interview with Peter Dickinson, New York City, May 13, 1981
• 16  Robert White: Interview with Arthur Johnson, London, February 1981
• 17  H. Wiley Hitchcock: Interview with Peter Dickinson, 1192 Park Avenue, New York City, May 10, 1981
• 18  Hans W. Heinsheimer: Interview with Peter Dickinson, New York City, May 13, 1981
• 19  Edward P. Murphy: Interview with Peter Dickinson, New York City, May 12, 1981
• 20  Postscript 2005: Orlando Cole: Interview with Peter Dickinson, Philadelphia, October 13, 2005
• 21  Selected Bibliography
• 22  General Index
• 23  Index of Works by Samuel Barber