Samuel Barber: Adagio For Strings, Symphony No. 1, The School For Scandal, Essays (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, cond. David Zinman)
Barber was an American composer who lived from 1910 to 1981. He’s most famous for his “Adagio for Strings,” which you may not know by name but you probably know by sound. It’s one of those nearly ubiquitous classical pieces that, in recent times, has appeared in the movies Platoon, The Elephant Man, and Amélie. It is the sound of violins crying. I swear the piece itself weeps, as it nearly imperceptibly builds for over six minutes until it climaxes in a howl of anguish, leaving the silence that follows to scream and roar in your ears and images of tragedy to flash before your eyes.
The Adagio has always been one of my favorite piece and is the reason I bought this CD. But it’s less than nine minutes long, so the rest of the CD served as an introduction to more of Barber’s works for me. If you read any encyclopedia-length bio of Barber, you’re bound to read some form of two words: lyrical and bold. And with good reason: his bold statements are lousy with beautiful lyricism, so it really is a fitting cocktail-party level of knowledge to have about him.
Barber had more abilities than just that, though. “Overture To The ‘School For Scandal’,” inspired by a play by Richard Sheridan, is full of life and energy and spends a good portion of its early minutes bubbling and percolating that energy into you. “Music For A Scene From Shelley,” inspired by “Prometheus Unbound,” features a Wagnerian simmering of strings reminiscent of the shimmering Rhinemaidens scene in Das Rheingold. His first symphony revels in the dissonance and 12-tone harmonic textures from the Second Viennese School. On the downside, he can get off course at times and lose me, as he does here in the non-keepers. For the most part, though, this is a great listen.
Rating:
Mixers: none
Non-keeper: “Second Essay For Orchestra,” Symphony 1, Movement 1
Filed Between: Bang Tango (Dancin’ On Coals) and Barenaked Ladies (Maybe You Should Drive)
Tags: 1931, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1992, 3.5 lunchboxes, CD reviews, music