Samuel Barber’s only sonata for the piano, the Piano Sonata in E-flat minor was composed during 1947-49. The work was commissioned by Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the League of Composers, a society aimed at promoting new American classical music, and was to be premiered by Vladimir Horowitz. Barber responded enthusiastically to the commission, quickly producing the first movement. However, his attention was torn between the many projects different projects he was engaged in at the time, and the sonata was soon placed on a backburner. Eight months later, Barber picked up work again on the sonata, producing two more movements. Though he had only planned a three-movement work, Horowitz convinced Barber that the sonata needed a flashy finale. Barber acquiesced, yet the movement caused him great consternation. For months, Barber was unable to make any headway on the movement. Finally, after being called a “constipated composer” by Horowitz, Barber in a fury dashed off the entire movement in one day. The sonata was enthusiastically received following Horowitz’s premiere, and remains today a favorite piece in the repertoire.
While Barber maintained traditional forms for each of the sonata’s four movements, he also drew on a more heavily contrapuntal style during the work’s composition, fusing it with his already well-defined lyricism. Through this use of counterpoint, the sonata reaches a level of dissonance not found in his earlier works. The first movement, energetic and lively, is in sonata form, and, curiously, even incorporates some use of twelve-tone techniques. Next follows a sprightly scherzo in rondo form. The third movement, an Adagio, returns to the chromaticism of the first, dissipating the brighter mood brought about by the scherzo. Lastly, a jarring and intense fugue brings the sonata to a tumultuous close.Joseph DuBose
Classical Music | Piano Music
Samuel Barber
Piano Sonata Op. 26, 1st movement
PlayRecorded on 07/05/2011, uploaded on 07/05/2011
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Samuel Barber’s only sonata for the piano, the Piano Sonata in E-flat minor was composed during 1947-49. The work was commissioned by Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the League of Composers, a society aimed at promoting new American classical music, and was to be premiered by Vladimir Horowitz. Barber responded enthusiastically to the commission, quickly producing the first movement. However, his attention was torn between the many projects different projects he was engaged in at the time, and the sonata was soon placed on a backburner. Eight months later, Barber picked up work again on the sonata, producing two more movements. Though he had only planned a three-movement work, Horowitz convinced Barber that the sonata needed a flashy finale. Barber acquiesced, yet the movement caused him great consternation. For months, Barber was unable to make any headway on the movement. Finally, after being called a “constipated composer” by Horowitz, Barber in a fury dashed off the entire movement in one day. The sonata was enthusiastically received following Horowitz’s premiere, and remains today a favorite piece in the repertoire.
While Barber maintained traditional forms for each of the sonata’s four movements, he also drew on a more heavily contrapuntal style during the work’s composition, fusing it with his already well-defined lyricism. Through this use of counterpoint, the sonata reaches a level of dissonance not found in his earlier works. The first movement, energetic and lively, is in sonata form, and, curiously, even incorporates some use of twelve-tone techniques. Next follows a sprightly scherzo in rondo form. The third movement, an Adagio, returns to the chromaticism of the first, dissipating the brighter mood brought about by the scherzo. Lastly, a jarring and intense fugue brings the sonata to a tumultuous close. Joseph DuBose
More music by Samuel Barber
Excursions Op 20 No 3
Canzone
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)
Aria di Figaro
Adagio of Spartacus
Poem
In the Hall of the Mountain King, from Peer Gynt Suite
Variations on a Nocturne by Chopin
Fantasie, K. 396
Sonata No. 3 in b minor, Op. 58
Sonata No. 13 in B-flat Major
Sonata No. 21 in g minor
Sonata in e-flat minor, Op. 26
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