Barber - Piano Concerto op.38

Samuel Barber (1910-1981) - Piano Concerto op.38 (1960)
John Browning, piano
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
I. Allegro appassionato 00:06
II. Canzone: moderato 12:57
III. Allegro molto 20:06

[@zgart]

Is no one going to talk about how the second movement is like the most beautiful thing ever??

[@JonathanFigueroaMusic]

I was looking for this comment

[@ondinehd6889]

OMG! Yes! It's absolutely gorgeous!

[@remomazzetti8757]

Barber has much more to offer than the Adagio for Strings. This piece and his Piano Sonata are first rate.

[@claudiopassilongocommunity]

Vero!

[@stalkerstomper3304]

Sure! Barber does have more to offer than just his Adagio for Strings... but nothing as good as Adagio for Strings unfortunately. Though this concerto is interesting I must admit. The writing is creative and brilliant despite me personally not caring for the sound of this style.

[@dzordzszs]

​@@stalkerstomper3304 I strongly disagree that Adagio for strings is his best piece. I think this piece and the aforementioned sonata are better than the adagio.

[@sergei-prokofiev]

​@@stalkerstomper3304have you heard his violin concerto, is way better then adagio for the strings!!

[@WilliamScharf]

Samuel Barber is one of the greatest American composers. Unfortunately rarely played much in American concert halls. This is a monster of a concerto. Beautiful, powerful, difficult to perform........an American masterpiece. Browning, Szell, and the Cleveland Orchestra at its peak, give the definitive performance.

[@OdinLimaye]

One of the greatest concertos ever written!

[@tbarrelier]

I would love to go to a concert where one of our present crop of piano artists plays Beethoven's 4th, intermission, then the Barber!

[@lanceharding6573]

A mid-century masterpiece by a master craftsman at the height of his powers: the melodic invention of the first movement, the exquisite and tender beauty of the second, and then that last movement with its masculine verve driving everything forward towards an orgasmic climax when pianist, orchestra and conductor collide and fall off the stage… There is nothing else like it.

[@vrkoven]

Good to see this with the short score. I always have to chuckle how conductors and pianists inevitably play the main theme of the finale so that it sounds like 6/8 instead of 5/8 (making the first "big" beat too long). And as to the difficulty, I remember going to a pre-concert panel discussion before the NY Phil's first performance of this in 1963, with Barber and Browning, and Barber saying that there was no way in hell he could perform the piano part himself.

[@gretareinarsson7461]

Astonishing concerto an every praise and admiration to the genious pianism of Browning. Too few know this wonderful pianist.

[@Barichter74318]

yay i found a new concerto to obsess over, thanks Barber

[@shaunmacdonald9240]

One of the few pieces of sheet music I haven't been able to find online. Fascinating seeing the score after so many years with audio only.

[@MichaelHankinson]

This was part of our repertoire at the State Theatre in Pretoria where I was resident conductor and which housed PACT Ballet Company. I used to conduct this nightly and twice on a Saturday during the season. Wonderful piece with a beautiful slow movement and a tricky little final movement.

[@zuzannawisniewska4464]

This piece and his Piano Sonata are first rate. Fascinating, wonderful!

[@MichaelConwayBaker]

One of the greatest piano concertos, bar none! Wonderfully performed by both soloist and orchestra. Fiendishly difficult except for the ravishing second movement. Samuel Barber deserves to be counted amongst the greats!!

[@craigkowald3055]

Very different from the lush violin concerto. Spikier and darker. I am enjoying this.

[@Pianistbb]

I am so happy to see this again. I was disappointed, when the previous same video disappeared. Now it's like a gift from heaven, thank you so much!

[@scriabinismydog2439]

7:50 That cadenza is so epic

[@sneddypie]

those octaves tho

[@zgart]

The beginning of it is so fun to play lmfao

[@danielfishysuave4352]

Such an amazing performance!! Thank you for the sheet music and video.

[@deardavid7]

So beautiful... Thank you for posting. 🎵

[@shaunmacdonald9240]

Big thank you!!

[@sanjosemike3137]

Rivals the Gershwin Concerto for the "best piano concerto written by an American." I should mention that creating a piano concerto from scratch is horrendously difficult because it also requires the composer be an excellent pianist and clearly understand piano literature. I don't think Barber was a pianist, but he certainly had an "understanding" of it. The craftmanship of the passages is very carefully thought out. This separates Barber from other composers. I have read through this work as an amateur. It is hard to really APPRECIATE the craftmanship of the passage work, unless you have tried to play it yourself. And of course the 2nd movement is exceptionally beautiful, with also excellent craftmanship. The 3rd movement is a kick. It is supposed to be funny and it is. Sanjosemike (no longer in CA)

[@timothywilliams1359]

Barber was a brilliant pianist. He was the first triple major - piano, voice, and composition - in the history of the Curtis Institute of Music.

[@davebarclay4429]

Barber wrote the Piano Concerto for John Browning whom he admired. There is a story that he deliberately made it as difficult as possible and Browning declared some of it unplayable. Barber was reluctant to back down so the two of them took the score to Vladimir Horowitz who looked through it and announced "The young man is right. This is impossible to play" which led to Barber moderating (!) his demands of the soloist. I wonder what on earth the original must have been like if this is the "toned down" version?

[@sanjosemike3137]

@@davebarclay4429 My guess it was mostly in the last movement. Sanjosemike (no longer in CA)

[@rolandmeyer3729]

10/10 comment 🏆

[@ondinehd6889]

Barber's Piano Concerto is amongst the great piano concertos of the repertoire!

[@tbarrelier]

Definitely! I wonder why it is so rarely played? Yuja!

[@ondinehd6889]

@@tbarrelier it's a very difficult concerto!! That's why!

[@tbarrelier]

@@ondinehd6889 Rach 3 is difficult too, but almost everyone plays it.

[@tavuisi]

@@tbarrelier Rach 3 is preformed because its popularized, barber isn't preformed so often because its not known very well by most listeners.

[@tbarrelier]

@@tavuisi True, and unfortunately!

[@scriabinismydog2439]

Well, damn, I didn't expect this from Barber... Only heard his adagio for Strings and the Excursions... Thanks for the upload!

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

He wrote a lot of really good piano music, worth exploring more in depth for sure!

[@andrewpetersen5272]

3 Essays for Orchestra, Cello Concerto, Overture to The School for Scandal. Medea's Dance of Vengeance, Knoxville Summer of 1915, Souvenirs,... Barber is astonishing!

[@Barichter74318]

​@@andrewpetersen5272Thanks a lot for the recommendations!!

[@davidhickey1182]

@@andrewpetersen5272 Also his First Symphony; my favorite from his oeuvre

[@olivierdrouin2701]

Je connaissais le "concerto pour hautbois " Capricorn ; de l adagio de ce concerto , on peut conclure que barber aimait vraiment cet instrument , et qu il le rendait bien !

[@belialah]

Masterpiece.

[@ellwoodcushman8255]

1963 Pulitzer Prize winner

[@tbarrelier]

It is one of the greats. I wonder why it isn't performed any more often. Hey Yuja! Here's one to take a ride on!

[@danielparrott8339]

​@@tbarrelier I actually came to this as I was looking to see if she had done a recording!

[@Calagat]

2nd movement is a jewel.

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

There is a vast difference between writing good music and making magic with sound.

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

@Dhruva Punde No one can explain why some music is supremely wonderful. It is a matter of taste. However, even mediocre music can have a powerful affect on some listeners. It is all very personal. We have the same problem identifying great art or great literature. If you are a highly trained musician with refined taste you will know great music when you hear it.

[@alexandertaylor7316]

@@stephenjablonsky1941 how do you define "refined taste"? I'm highly skeptical of those claim the existence of any form of objective musical quality; there is simply too much subjectivity in music to make any form of statement in this regard, even among musical experts.

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

@@alexandertaylor7316 It is very simple. If I say it is great, it is great. I am the final arbiter on all things musical. Live with it!

[@themobiusfunction]

​@@stephenjablonsky1941WHAT

[@duskboyd2905]

The first movement is quite odd, and almost post tonal, but has its own beauty. As a pianist, it is ridiculously difficult to a degree that even surpasses Rachmaninov. I will say, even though Barber was a pianist himself, there are bits of this movement that do are not nicely "playable" (by that I mean that even though rachmaninov's repertoire is incredibly difficult, it is written with the soloist in mind). That being said, this concerto was written specifically from John Browning's piano technique, which is why it doesn't come across as universally playable, e.g. the writing isn't intuitive, and is specific to the intended soloist. The second movement is just gorgeous, and the most playable and intuitive section of the entire concerto. It is heartbreaking and menacing at the same time, and to me represents the unknowns of death. The descending chromatic motif within the strings is potentially one of the most moving bits of music I have ever encountered. The third movement is quite frankly just goofy. And I think that is potentially the intent. It is to me very difficult to find exactly what key area we are in, and there is extensive use of dissonance which furthers the confusion. But its a good kind of confusion, one that is welcome for its shear absurdity and virtuosity. (Apparently, the third movement was not even finished until 15 days before the concert and was deemed to be unplayable in its first draft by the soloist, and it took a second opinion from Vladimir Howitz for Barber to agree to write it to be playable at concert tempo) Overall, one of the most unique and eclectic works in the genre, and a fantastic example of American classical music. Barber will certainly continue to be one of the American Greats and just orchestral Greats in general.

[@nikol4y.l]

Wow. Reminds me of Feinberg's 1st piano concerto in parts.

[@calebhu6383]

25:27

[@f.p.2010]

Fancy seeing you here

[@MrInterestingthings]

I have fallen in love with the 2nd slow movement again ! Many young kids play the Rach and Prok1,2and 3 but Ive yet to hear about anyone under 30 playing Barber pianoconcerto . Many youngsters play the gorgeous barber violin concerto and I heard the piano sonata a lot when I was in high school and it's difficult . This is fabulously questioning and anxious that main motif is as memorable as the b-a-c-h motif so often used by the serialists . It almost sounds like the Schonberg piano concerto at 7th minute .

[@SCRIABINIST]

Mainly because unlike Rachmaninoff and to a lesser degree Prokofiev, the Barber is not approachable to most audiences, not to mention non-musical audiences. The work is also more difficult than any of the Rachmaninoff or Prokofiev with maybe the exception of Prokofiev's 2nd, so it's not for the faint of heart.

[@bernardwilliamss]

@@SCRIABINIST I disagree that it is more difficult technically. I suppose that is subjective, but I have played these concerti and I don't find the Barber harder than Rach 3.

[@davidhickey1182]

I would posit that Browning and Szell established such a high standard together in the initial LP that it daunted subsequent musicians.

[@davidrehak3539]

Samuel Barber:Zongoraverseny Op.38 1. Allegro appasionato 00:06 2. Canzone: Moderato 12:57 3. Allegro molto 20:06 John Browning-zongora Clevelandi Zenekar Vezényel:Széll György

[@benrubin8624]

hell yeah

[@vaclavmiller8032]

Is there a cut at 8:27 - 28?

[@tepsoram]

Not sure about 8:27 but I think there is definitely a momentary hiccup at 8:42. 😊

[@olivierdrouin2701]

L adagio : Ravel l avait rêvé , Barber l a fait ....

[@owengette8089]

2:02

[@olivierdrouin2701]

Voir la partition me fait mai pour ke pianiste !! Dans quelle mesure les techniques musicales soulagent elles la mémoire dans une ouvre comme celle ci ? Réponse vraiment souhaitée .

[@timothywilliams1359]

Je ne saisis pas tellement bien votre question, mais si vous parlez de l'utilité d'une bonne analyse musicale pour le soliste, je suis sûr que c'est d'une importance capitale pour faciliter la mémoire.

[@frogcum446]

12:10

[@pilu1100]

Wow, pretty much sounds like Star Wars music. :D

[@Pakkens_Backyard]

The 2nd movement would make perfect dungeon or forest music in a video game

[@SCRIABINIST]

So juicy

[@_rstcm]

Why Do I think key signatures are useless at this point? 😅

[@WinrichNaujoks]

Welcome to twelth tone music!

[@austerity101]

As a pianist I prefer them. Reading all accidentals on all notes without a key signature is really taxing. For as chromatic as this music is, it's still at its basic pretty tonal.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

@@WinrichNaujoks "Welcome to twelth tone music!" Which this isn't.

[@rolandmeyer3729]

​​@@austerity101 When does music leave hyper-chromaticism and embrace quasi-serialism?

[@austerity101]

@@rolandmeyer3729 I'm not sure what it is you're trying to ask.

[@olivierdrouin2701]

Peut être faut il rappeler que l école sérielle voulait exclure de la tradition savante tout ce qui n était pas elle... Quant à cette oeuvre que je ne connaissais pas , très belle , en effet , mais que ce soit l occasion pour moi d attirer l attention sur le merveilleux concerto inachevé pour hautbois ( comme je crois le nom en est capricorn des amateurs de concertos peuvent passer a côté...)

[@stephengreco6844]

Clever and interesting and well crafted, but don’t you just wanna say sometimes, Sam, calm down.

[@stephengreco6844]

Then again it was 1960, and who knew what was going to happen?

[@petroglyph888mcgregor2]

Too much discordance for my taste 😬. And it seems like the meandering often doesn't build to anything. My expectations were high when I heard this referred to as the "Great American Piano Concerto" 😕. I grew up listening to the piano concertos of Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg. I guess Barber's is great for a certain mood. The pianist is a virtuoso 🤯. Well, it grew on me a little by the end of the first movement.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

Cringe.

[@tbarrelier]

It's certainly not Haydn. But remember, it was written in 1960, near the end of America's high-water mark. To me it is a work of musical prophecy.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

It never ceases to amaze me that some people seem to expect music to never evolve any further. This was written 100 years after Grieg, 175 after Mozart's Concerti, 150 after Beethoven's. And you moan about dissonances? This is outright melodious for music from the 2nd half the 20th Century, while the Avantgarde had classical music in its grip.

[@rolandmeyer3729]

​@@tbarrelier Please elaborate. 🖖

[@tbarrelier]

@@rolandmeyer3729 Dear Roland, I was saying how this work is prophetic regarding the trajectory of our present age. The work was premiered in 1960 and I would say we (the U.S.) were in the midst of our halcyon days (1945-1963). I was born in 1950 and I can tell you this country is not recognizable compared to the days of my youth. The discord and restlessness in Barber's concerto mirror the "zeitgeist" of the present. I wonder why this concerto, which I consider to be a great work, is hardly ever played. Yuja? I hope I cleared up what I meant!

[@elliottblum7925]

Not a fan. Oh well there's always the violin concerto and adagio for strings of course

[@petrostroupakis2694]

Objectively dreadful music

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Just above your limited capacities to understand. Go back to listening to Brahms.

[@kgroveringer03]

Elaborate. Why do you think the piece isn't good? And don't just say "Oh, I don't like it, it sounds bad", that's not a reason.

[@karllieck9064]

Be gone. The music is sublime.

[@toddlevin]

Objectively dreadful comment and opinion

[@tbarrelier]

This challenges you to hear beyond habitual associations. It certainly is not classical in the melodic sense, but it is formally.