Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 10/09/2013, uploaded on 05/06/2014

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I.   Un poco allegro
II.  In slow blues tempo
III. Allegretto
IV.  Allegro molto

Written during World War II, these four pieces are excursions into the American idiom. They reflect at least three popular stylistic elements: urban, blues, and folk.  The first piece contains traces of the Boogie-woogie style, with its obstinate left-hand figuration; it also resembles an old train with its unstoppable energy and loud whistles.  The second is written in the form and the character of blues – soulful and unhurried.  The popular tune Streets of Laredo was presumably the inspiration for the third piece, in which Barber creates variations on the main melody.  The last piece is a barn dance, full of joyous energy.     Daria Rabotkina

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.