A lover of prose and poetry throughout his life, Barber was drawn to a diverse group of writers, including Percy Shelley, James Agee, Emily Dickinson, Rainer Maria Rilke, Pablo Neruda, and James Joyce. The Second Essay for Orchestra, Barber’s response to Homer’s letter, combines Barber’s interest in literature with the composer’s own concerns about the war. Write the greatest thing you possibly can!” Something like that is going on in civilization. In the autumn of 1940, Samuel Barber’s uncle, composer Sydney Homer, urged his nephew to write a music drama “on the lines of Fidelio, built on sympathy for suffering and with a voice of true eloquence.” Keenly aware of the threatening war in Europe, Homer continued, “They say insects could destroy the world if they were unchecked. INSTRUMENTATION: Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tam tam, and strings MOST RECENT OREGON SYMPHONY PERFORMANCE: JanuChristoph Campestrini, conductor
WORLD PREMIERE: Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic premiered the Second Essay for Orchestra on April 16, 1942, at Carnegie Hall, on the occasion of the orchestra’s centennial celebration. COMPOSER: Born March 9, 1910, West Chester, PA died January 23, 1981, New York City
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