Samuel Barber Complete Thematic Catalogue - Sibelius SCORCH files for Chapter 5. The 1950s: Songs, Memories, and Opera.
Barber's score incipits for all the works composed in his forties. Samuel Barber: A Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Works by Barbara B. Heyman, published by Oxford University Press; in the volume, all excerpts from the published and unpublished works of Samuel Barber are reprinted by permission of G. Schirmer, Inc., and the Samuel Barber Trust. Sibelius SCORCH files for Chapter 5: Works 1950-1959 (H-118 to H-129). This section includes the pieces Samuel Barber wrote in his more mature years, among which Hermit Songs Op. 29, and the opera Vanessa, to a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti.
View and listen to the score incipits and relevant Sibelius SCORCH audio files of Samuel Barber’s Thematic Catalogue. The Table of Contents and the Index Numbers refer to Samuel Barber: A Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Works by Barbara B. Heyman (Oxford University Press, 2012). This online publication is an innovative ICAMus project carried out by special arrangement with Dr. Heyman and with the Publisher. Barbara Heyman is the author of Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music (Oxford University Press, 1992).
* Note. If you are unable to view the Sibelius SCORCH files, please install the plug-in here. It is free and easy. The plug-in allows you to view and listen to the score incipits of Samuel Barber’s Thematic Catalogue, inclusive of all his early, rare, unpublished and incomplete compositions. The Sibelius score incipit for each work follows the title it refers to.
SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)
REGISTER OF INCIPITS
PART 5 (1950-1959) H-118 to H-129
H-118 Mélodies Passagères, Op. 27. Text by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). For voice and piano (originally for low voice and piano); 1950-1951.
a. Puisque tout passe, Op. 27, No. 1
b. Un cygne, Op. 27, No. 2
c. Tombeau dans un parc, Op. 27, No. 3
d. Le clocher chante, Op. 27, No. 4
e. Départ, Op. 27, No. 5
H-119 Souvenirs, Op. 28. Originally for piano four-hands. Arrangements: Two pianos; piano solo; orchestral suite (H-119arr), for concert hall and as ballet. 1952.
I. Waltz
II. Schottische
III. Pas de Deux
IV. Two-Step
V. Hesitation-Tango
VI. Galop
H-119arr Souvenirs (Orchestra Version for Ballet), Op. 28. For large orchestra; 1952.
I. Waltz
II. Schottische
III. Pas de Deux
IV. Two-Step
V. Hesitation-Tango
VI. Galop
H-120 Hermit Songs, Op. 29. Song Cycle. Texts: Poems, some anonymous, written on the margins of manuscripts by Irish monks and scholars during the 8th to 13th centuries. For voice (originally for soprano) and piano; 1952-1954.
a. At Saint Patrick's Purgatory, Op. 29, No. 1. Text: 13th century, trans. Sean O'Faolain.
b. Church Bell at Night, Op. 29, No. 2. Text: 12th century, trans. Howard Mumford Jones (1892-1980).
c. St. Ita's Vision, Op. 29, No. 3. Text: Attrib. to Saint Ita, 8th century, trans. Chester Kallman.
d. The Heavenly Banquet, Op. 29, No. 4. Text: Attrib. to St. Bridgid, 10th century, trans. Sean O'Faolain.
e. The Crucifixion, Op. 29, No. 5. Text: Anon. 12th century, trans. Howard Mumford Jones (1892-1980).
f. Sea-Snatch, Op 29, No. 6. Text: 8th-9th century, from Kenneth Jackson, A Celtic Miscellany.
g. Promiscuity, Op. 29, No. 7. Text: 9th century, from Kenneth Jackson, A Celtic Miscellany.
h. The Monk and His Cat, Op. 29, No. 8. Text: 8th or 9th century, trans. W.H. Auden (1907-1973).
i. The Praises of God, Op. 29, No. 9. Text: 11th century, trans. W.H. Auden (1907-1973).
j. The Desire for Hermitage, Op. 29, No. 10. Text: 8th-9th century, based on a trans. by Sean O'Faolain.
H-120h-arr The Monk and His Cat, Op. 29, No. 8. Text: 8th or 9th century, trans. W.H. Auden (1907-1973). For mixed chorus.
H-121 Adventure. One-movement for chamber orchestra of six players. For Western and non-Western instruments; 1954.
H-122 Prayers of Kierkegaard, Op. 30. Text: Selections of prayers interpolated through the writings and sermons of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), written between 1847 and 1855 in his journals, adapted by Barber. For mixed chorus, soprano solo, and orchestra; with incidental tenor solo; alto solo ad libitum. 1953-1954.
a. Opening
b. Soprano Solo
c. Chorus: “Father in Heaven"
d. Concluding Chorus
H-123 Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a. Orchestral Tone Poem; 1955.
H-124 Summer Music, Op. 31. For woodwind quintet; 1955.
H-125 Vanessa, Op. 32. Opera. 1957, 4 Acts; rev. 1954, 3 Acts. Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007). 1952-1957; revised 1964-1965.
a. Act I
b. Aria, “Must the winter come so soon”; Erika, Act I, Scene 1.
c. Aria, “Do not utter a word, Anatol”; Vanessa, Act I, Scene 1.
d. Trio, “Under the willow tree”; Act I, Scene 2.
e. Aria, “Outside this house, the world has changed”; Anatol, Act I, Scene 2.
f. Act II
g. Aria, “I should never have been a doctor”; Doctor, Act II.
h. Duet, “Love has a bitter core, Vanessa”; Anatol and Vanessa, Act II.
i. Skating Aria: “Our arms entwined, my hand in his”; Vanessa, Act II.
j. Act III
k. Intermezzo; Act III.
l. Quintet: “To leave, to break, to find, to keep”; Vanessa, Anatol, Erika, Baroness, Doctor; Act III, Scene 2.
H-125arr-orch Under the Willow Tree. Country Dance from Vanessa. Text by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007). For orchestra; arrangement adapted from Vanessa by Barber.
H-125arr-ch Under the Willow Tree. Country Dance from Vanessa. Text by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007). For four-part chorus of mixed voices SATB and solo voice with piano accompaniment; arrangement adapted from Vanessa by Barber.
H-125arr-duo Under the Willow Tree. Country Dance from Vanessa. Text by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007). For duet: 2 voices (high and low) and piano; arrangement adapted from Vanessa by Barber.
H-126 Nocturne (Homage to John Field), Op. 33. For piano; 1958.
H-127 Wondrous Love, Op. 34. Variations on a Shape-Note Hymn. For three-manual organ; 1957-1958.
Theme
a. Variation 1
b. Variation 2
c. Variation 3
d. Variation 4
H-128 A Hand of Bridge, Op. 35. One-Act Chamber Opera; Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007). 1958-1959.
a. Opening
b. Sally’s Theme
c. Bill’s Theme
d. Geraldine’s Theme
e. David’s Theme
H-129 Elegy [Canzone], Op. 38a. For flute and piano. Orchestrated as Second Movement of Piano Concerto, Op. 38, H-132. 1959.
SAMUEL BARBER - THEMATIC CATALOGUE INDEX:
PART 1
Samuel Barber Complete Thematic Catalogue - Sibelius SCORCH files for Chapter 1. Childhood.
Earliest Works, 1917-1923 (H-1 to H-19). This section includes the first compositions Samuel Barber wrote as a child.
PART 2
Samuel Barber Complete Thematic Catalogue - Sibelius SCORCH files for Chapter 2. Adolescence.
Works 1924-1929 (H-20 to H-58). This section includes the compositions Samuel Barber wrote as a teenager.
PART 3
Earliest Works, 1930-1939 (H-59 to H-94). This section includes the pieces Samuel Barber wrote in his youth.
PART 4
Works 1940-1949 (H-95 to H-117). This section includes the pieces Samuel Barber wrote in his thirties, among which the Capricorn Concerto Op. 21, the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra Op. 22, and the Piano Sonata Op. 26.
PART 5
Works 1950-1959 (H-118 to H-129). This section includes the pieces Samuel Barber wrote in his more mature years, among which Hermit Songs Op. 29, and the opera Vanessa, to a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti.
PART 6
Works 1960-1969 (H-130 to H-139). This section includes the pieces Samuel Barber wrote over a decade, among which the Piano Concerto Op. 38, and the opera Antony and Cleopatra, to a libretto adapted from Shakespeare by Franco Zeffirelli.
PART 7
Samuel Barber Complete Catalogue - Sibelius SCORCH files for Chapter 7. 1970-1981: The Last Years.
Works 1970-1981 (H-140 to H-146). This section includes the last pieces that Barber completed, among which the Ballade for piano and the Third Essay for Orchestra.
PART 8
Samuel Barber Complete Catalogue - Sibelius SCORCH files for Chapter 8. Unidentified Fragments.
Unidentified Manuscripts (H-U1 to H-U8). This section includes holograph sketches and fragments from different time periods of the composer's career.
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