Barber in Rome

Synopsis

In 1935, when he was 25 years old, American composer Samuel Barber was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome. This meant that Barber could study at the American Academy in Rome for two years, with free lodgings and an annual stipend of $1,400 — a considerable sum of money in the 1930s. Barber found his Italian studio, a little yellow house approached through a garden, to be a good place to work.

While in Italy, Barber finished his Symphony No. 1. The premiere took place in Rome on today’s date in 1936, with an Italian conductor and orchestra. Years later, he recalled that the orchestra played well, but also that the Italian audience members were “not shy about expressing their feelings ... 50% applauded and 50% were hissing.” In Barber’s opinion, the Italians found the new work “too dark-toned, too Nordic.”

The Cleveland Orchestra gave the symphony’s American premiere early the next year, followed by a New York performance under the direction of Arthur Rodzinski, who was so impressed he conducted the work with the Vienna Philharmonic at the opening concert of the 1937 Salzburg Music Festival in Austria. That performance was more warmly received, and Barber was called back to the stage three times.

Music Played in Today's Program

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Symphony No. 1; Saint Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, conductor; RCA/BMG 60732

On This Day

Births

• 1838 - French composer Alexis Vicomte de Castillon, in Chartres

Deaths

• 1898 - American composer George Frederick Bristow, 72, in New York

Premieres

• 1729 - Handel: opera Lotario (Julian date: Dec. 2)

• 1739 - Handel: revival performance of oratorio Acis and Galetea (all-English version), in London at Lincoln’s Inn Field, with the premiere performances of two unspecified instrumental concertos from Handel’s recently completed Opus 6 set of 12 Concerti Grossi (Gregorian date: Dec. 24)

• 1868 - Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2, at a Concert Popilaire in Paris conducted by Anton Rubinstein, with the composer as soloist

• 1884 - R. Strauss: Symphony, in New York, with Theodore Thomas conducting

• 1895 - Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), by Berlin Philharmonic, with the composer conducting; The Berlin Philharmonic had premiered the first three movements of this symphony earlier that same year (on March 4), again with the composer conducting

• 1913 - Rachmaninov: choral symphonic poem, The Bells, in St. Petersburg, composer conducting (Julian date: Nov. 30)

• 1928 - Gershwin: An American in Paris, in New York, at Carnegie Hall, by the New York Philharmonic, Walter Damrosch conducting

• 1929 - Bax: Symphony No. 2, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Kouusevitzky conducting

• 1930 - Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, in Brussels at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, conducted by Ernest Ansermet; Serge Koussevitzky (who commissioned the work to celebrate the Boston Symphony’s 50th Anniversary), conducted the American premiere in Boston on December 19, 1930

• 1936 - Barber: Symphony in One Movement (No. 1), at the Adriano Theater in Rome, with the Augusteo Orchestra conducted by Bernardino Molinari. Rudolf Ringwall conducted the American premiere of the Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra (Jan. 21, 1937) and Artur Rodzinski conducted the new work with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival (July 35, 1937).

• 1944 - Bernstein: musical On the Town, as trial run in Boston at the Colonial Theater. The show opened in New York City at the Adelphi Theater on December 28, 1944.

• 1966 - Druckman: String Quartet No. 2, in New York City, by the Juilliard String Quartet

• 1970 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 13, in Leningrad, by the Beethoven Quartet

Others

• 1836 - At a musical soiree at Chopin’s apartments in Paris, the female writer “George” Sand, determined to make a good impression with her host, arrives wearing white pantaloons and a scarlet sash (the colors of the Polish flag). Paris Opéra tenor Adolphe Nourit sings some Schubert songs, accompanied by Franz Liszt. Liszt and Chopin play Moschele's Sonata in Eb for piano four-hands.