That Samuel Barber was a musical polymath- a triple major at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia — Composition, Piano, and voice, shouldn’t distract from the importance of his output as a composer. The Sonata for Cello and Piano was written during his final year of school and dedicated to Barber’s principal composition teacher Rosario Scalero. The first movement of the Sonata is highly dramatic and filled with lively cross rhythms. The second movement begins somewhat prayerful and follows an ABA format. The middle section is a playful scherzo, and the return of the A material is then elegiac. The third movement is also dramatic, yet cheeky, and impulsive. Barber’s Sonata for Cello and Piano is a fascinating, visceral work that doesn’t yet receive the full attention it deserves as an important addition to the repertoire. Alexander Hersh
Classical Music | Cello Music
Samuel Barber
Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 6 Play
Recorded on 11/27/2019, uploaded on 06/26/2020
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
That Samuel Barber was a musical polymath- a triple major at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia — Composition, Piano, and voice, shouldn’t distract from the importance of his output as a composer. The Sonata for Cello and Piano was written during his final year of school and dedicated to Barber’s principal composition teacher Rosario Scalero. The first movement of the Sonata is highly dramatic and filled with lively cross rhythms. The second movement begins somewhat prayerful and follows an ABA format. The middle section is a playful scherzo, and the return of the A material is then elegiac. The third movement is also dramatic, yet cheeky, and impulsive. Barber’s Sonata for Cello and Piano is a fascinating, visceral work that doesn’t yet receive the full attention it deserves as an important addition to the repertoire. Alexander Hersh
More music by Samuel Barber
Canzone
Excursions Op 20 No 3
Sea-Snatch, from Hermit Songs, Op. 29
Adagio, from String Quartet No. 2
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Canzone)
String Quartet, Op. 11
A green lowland of pianos, from Three Songs, Op.45
Excursions, Op. 20
Sonata in e-flat minor, Op. 26
At Saint Patrick's Purgatory, from Hermit Songs, Op. 29
Performances by same musician(s)
Sonata No. 32 in c minor, Op. 111
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major, M. 8
Aufschwung, from Fantasiestücke, Op 12
Warum?, from Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
Des Abends, from Fantasiestücke, Op 12
Grillen, from Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
In der Nacht, from Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26
16 Waltzes, Op. 39
Trio No. 1 in d minor, Op. 63
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