(1910 - 1981)
Samuel Barber was born in Pennsylvania in 1910. His family and extended family were very musical and Barber started composing at age 7. At 14 he entered the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia to study piano, voice, and composition. He served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, where he was commissioned to write the Symphony Dedicated to the Air Forces in 1943. Supposedly, Barber destroyed all parts of the score in 1964. Barber enjoyed composing for vocal pieces, and used his own voice for a few pieces. His opera Vanessa (1958) won a Pulitzer Prize. Among his orchestral works are Adagio for Strings (1938), Violin Concerto (1939), and an Overture to The School for Scandal (1931). He died in 1981 in New York City.
Samuel Barber Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Die Natali: Chorale Preludes for Christmas
Timpani + 4 percussion + celeste
Tenor drum, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, antique cymbals, tam tam, triangle, xylophone, tubular bells, celeste
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Fadograph of a Yestern Scene
Timpani + 1 percussion + celeste
Antique cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drum, tambourine, tam tam, orchestral bass drum, vibraphone
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Medea Ballet Suite
Timpani + 3 percussion
Clash cymbals, snare drum, orchestral bass drum, xylophone, tom tom
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Medea's Dance of Vengeance
Timpani + 3 percussion
Triangle, clash cymbals, snare drum, tom tom, orchestral bass drum, tam tam, whip, xylophone
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Music for a Scene from Shelley
Timpani + 1 percussion
Glockenspiel, clash cymbals
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Night Flight
No Timpani + 1 percussion
Suspended cymbal
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Prayers of Kierkegaard
Timpani + 4 percussion
Clash cymbals, tam tam, orchestral bass drum, snare drum, triangle, xylophone, whip, E3 tubular bell x 2
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School for Scandal Overture
Timpani + 3 percussion
Triangle, glockenspiel, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal
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Second Essay for Orchestra
Timpani + 2 percussion
Suspended cymbal, tam tam, snare drum, tam tam
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Second Symphony
Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, snare drum, orchestral bass drum, high wood block, low wood block
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Souvernirs
Timpani + 3 percussion + celeste
Snare drum, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, triangle, celeste
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Symphony No.1
Timpani + 2 percussion
Orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals
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The Lovers
Timpani + 5 percussion + celeste
2 wood blocks, clash cymbals, xylophone, tam tam, orchestral bass drum, antique cymbal, 3 bongo drums, bell tree, triangle, celeste
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Violin Concerto
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26/23 Prem 32/30/28/25
1 percussion
Snare drum
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