Musical works

Summer Music, by Samuel Barber, fully belongs to the tradition of atmospheric nocturnal music. While one may occasionally hear echoes of Ravel — or even Bartók — the rhythmic language remains distinctly American. Summer Music was composed between 1955 and 1956, during the period when Barber was working on his first large-scale opera, Vanessa. Perhaps one can catch glimpses of melodic outpourings that might have emerged from that same creative well? It’s hard to say: Barber was, above all, a melodist — a trait beautifully highlighted by the rhapsodic flights and more modern harmonic explorations in the work.

To reveal the seriousness that underlies the piece — light, but never trivial — its single-movement form reflects the pleasure that intellect can bring to refined entertainment.