2024 – 25 CONCERT SEASON
BARBER VIOLIN CONCERTO
Samuel Barber
Born March 9 , 1910 in West Chester , Pennsylvania ; Died January 23 , 1981 in New York City
VIOLIN CONCERTO , OP . 14 [ 1939 – 1940 , REV . 1948 ]
When the Curtis Institute of Music opened its doors to its first students , on October 1 , 1924 , Samuel Barber was second in line . It was a violinist who managed to pass through the portal before him : Max Aronoff , a future member of the Curtis String Quartet , the ensemble for which Barber would compose ( a dozen years later ) his String Quartet with its famous slow movement , often heard in its string-orchestra setting as his Adagio for Strings . When Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony broadcast the Adagio in 1938 , it catapulted Barber to national fame , though he was not yet 30 years old .
The next year he accepted a commission from Samuel Fels , of Fels Naptha soap fame , to write a violin concerto for Iso Briselli , a Curtis student Fels was assisting . Barber set to work in Switzerland and France that summer , but war broke out in August and the composer , with the first two movements in hand , returned to the United States , where he grappled with the finale . It gave rise to a contretemps when Briselli and his teacher expressed their displeasure for this third movement . After provisional read-throughs , Barber showed his concerto to the violinist Albert Spalding ( of the sporting equipment family ), who was on the lookout for an American concerto to add to his repertoire . Spalding signed on instantly , and following the work ’ s extended gestation , it was he who introduced it , in February 1941 , with Eugene Ormandy conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra .
In a comment penned for the premiere , Barber characterized the concerto as “ lyric and rather intimate in character ” and pointed out that “ a moderate-sized orchestra is used : eight woodwinds , two horns , two trumpets , percussion , piano , and strings .” He continued : “ The first movement … 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 … 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 virtuoso characteristics of the violin .”
Instrumentation : Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , two horns , two trumpets , timpani , snare drum , piano , and strings , in addition to the solo violin .
PEABODY
2024 – 25 CONCERT SEASON
Peabody ’ s FREE in-person and online performance season this fall spans from classical to contemporary , from jazz to dance .
Find your favorites at peabody . jhu . edu / events .
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