Jump to content

Essay for Orchestra: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Addbot (talk | contribs)
Bots
2,838,809 edits
m Bot: Migrating 1 interwiki links, now provided by Wikidata on d:q3072936
m Reverted edits by آسمان پر ستارے۔ (talk) to last version by Michael Bednarek
 
(32 intermediate revisions by 17 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Orchestral composition by Samuel Barber}}
⚫
[[Samuel Barber]]'s '''''Essay for Orchestra''''' ([[opus number|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 (Barber)|Second Essay for Orchestra]]'' in 1942. He wrote his ''[[Third Essay for Orchestra (Barber)|Third Essay for Orchestra]]'' in 1978.
{{italic title}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=April 2021}}
⚫
[[Samuel Barber]]'s '''''Essay for Orchestra''''', [[opus number|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 (Barber)|Second Essay for Orchestra]]'' in 1942. He also wrote a ''[[Third Essay]]'' 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.
Barber visited Toscanini several times in 1933 at his villa on Isola di San Giovanni in [[Lago Maggiore]], 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 the spring of 1938, together with the score of the ''Adagio for Strings''.{{sfn|Heyman|1992|pp=162–166}}


The ''Essay'' is abstract and [[program music|non-programmatic]]. It resembles but is not equivalent to a first movement of a symphony.
The ''First Essay'' resembles but is not equivalent to a first movement of a symphony.{{sfn|Heyman|1992|p=166}}
<score sound="1"> { \new PianoStaff << \new Staff \relative c' { \clef bass \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \tempo "Andante sostenuto" r4 << { <b g>2\p <b g>4 | <bes f>1 | <a f>2 <g e> | f8( g) e2. } \\ { e2 e4 | e8( f) d2. | r4 d2 c4 | <b' e,>1 } >> } \new Staff \relative c { \clef bass \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 <e, a,>1\p | d | f,2 a | e1 } >> } </score>


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''.
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. [[Neeme Järvi]] with the [[Detroit Symphony Orchestra]], [[Leonard Slatkin]] with the [[St. Louis Symphony Orchestra]], and Daniel Kawka with the [[Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI]] have all recorded all three of Barber's ''Essays''.


==External links==
==References==
{{reflist|15em}}
⚫
* [http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/piece-detail.cfm?id=2406 program notes]
'''Sources'''
* {{cite book |last=Heyman |first=Barbara B. |date=1992 |title=Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music |location=New York City |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195090581}}

==Further reading==
* Friedwald, Russell Edward. 1957. "A Formal and Stylistic Analysis of the Published Music of Samuel Barber". Ph. D. diss. Ames: Iowa State University.
* Pettis, Ashley. November 13, 1938. "Important American Music". ''[[The New York Times]]''.

==External links==
⚫
* "[http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/piece-detail.cfm?id=2406 First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12]", program note by J. Anthony McAlister. [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]].

{{Samuel Barber}}
{{Arturo Toscanini}}
{{Portal bar|Classical music}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Compositions by Samuel Barber]]
[[Category:Compositions by Samuel Barber]]
[[Category:Compositions for symphonic orchestra]]
[[Category:Compositions for symphony orchestra]]
[[Category:1938 compositions]]
[[Category:1938 compositions]]
[[Category:Music with dedications]]

Latest revision as of 18:23, 12 April 2023

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 also wrote a Third Essay in 1978.

Barber visited Toscanini several times in 1933 at his villa on Isola di San Giovanni in Lago Maggiore, 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 the spring of 1938, together with the score of the Adagio for Strings.[1]

The First Essay resembles but is not equivalent to a first movement of a symphony.[2]

{ \new PianoStaff << \new Staff \relative c' { \clef bass \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \tempo "Andante sostenuto" r4 << { <b g>2\p <b g>4 | <bes f>1 | <a f>2 <g e> | f8( g) e2. } \\ { e2 e4 | e8( f) d2. | r4 d2 c4 | <b' e,>1 } >> } \new Staff \relative c { \clef bass \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 <e, a,>1\p | d | f,2 a | e1 } >> }

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. Neeme Järvi with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Daniel Kawka with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI have all recorded all three of Barber's Essays.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Heyman 1992, pp. 162–166.
  2. ^ Heyman 1992, p. 166.

Sources

  • Heyman, Barbara B. (1992). Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. New York City: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195090581.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Friedwald, Russell Edward. 1957. "A Formal and Stylistic Analysis of the Published Music of Samuel Barber". Ph. D. diss. Ames: Iowa State University.
  • Pettis, Ashley. November 13, 1938. "Important American Music". The New York Times.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Essay_for_Orchestra&oldid=1149514024"