Barber Songs

A wonderful reminder of Barber’s skill as a songwriter, in ideal performances

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Samuel Barber

Genre:

Vocal

Label: Hyperion

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 62

Mastering:

Stereo
DDD

Catalogue Number: CDA67528

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
There's Nae Lark Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(The) Beggar's song Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
In the dark pinewood Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(3) Songs, Movement: No. 1, The Daisies (wds. Stephens) Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(3) Songs, Movement: No. 2, With Rue my Heart is Laden (wds. Housman) Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(3) Songs, Movement: No. 3, Bessie Bobtail (wds. Stephens) Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(10) Hermit Songs Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(3) Songs Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
Mélodies passagères Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(4) Songs, Movement: No. 3, Sure on this shining night (wds. Agee) Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
(4) Songs, Movement: No. 4, Nocturne (wds. Prokosch) Samuel Barber, Composer
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
Dover Beach Samuel Barber, Composer
Aronowitz Ensemble
Gerald Finley, Baritone
Julius Drake, Piano
Samuel Barber, Composer
Performances of this calibre emphasise Barber’s stature in the mainstream of 20th-century song composers. The tradition is Anglo-American and “There’s nae lark”, written when Barber was 16 to a poem by Swinburne in imitation Scots, could even be by Quilter. But Barber soon gets into his stride and by the time he reached his Three Songs, Op†10, there’s a rare kind of intensity as impressive as anything on this CD. The poems are from James Joyce’s Chamber Music; Barber set a few more, such as “In the dark pinewood” included here; but what a tragedy he never set the whole cycle that could have been an American Winterreise. The Hermit Songs, fey and whimsically amusing, are probably the best-known set.

The immediate comparison is with the Gramophone Award-winning Thomas Hampson, who is accompanied by John Browning, a close friend and colleague of Barber’s. Finley’s voice is lower – he transposes many of the songs – and richer, with nothing to fear alongside Hampson, who is anyway on a two-CD set. Mostly I prefer Finley, and the recording is warmer.

“Sure on the shining night” is vintage Barber, and Finley and Drake are impeccable (as are the Aronowitz Quartet in Dover Beach). The French songs, to poems by Rilke, who did write in French, have less character, but the single songs are all gems. This is another outstanding Hyperion release that does credit to Barber in what will soon be a run-up to his centenary.

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