Portland Chamber Orchestra - All American - Samuel Barber Concerto for Violin & Orchestra Op.14

In late 1938 or early 1939, Barber received a commission for a violin concerto from the American soap magnate Samuel Fels, on behalf of the violinist Iso Briselli. (Briselli, a Russian, was Fels's adopted son.) At the time, Barber was living in a small Swiss village, where he completed the first two movements of the concerto. When war broke out in Europe, Barber returned to Philadelphia to take a teaching post at the Curtis Institute of Music, and he submitted the first two movements to Briselli. There is a well-known story about the concerto's history from this point onwards. According to this version of events, Briselli complained that these that these movements were not quite the technical showpiece that he had in mind, and when Barber obliged with the brilliant third movement, the violinist returned it as "unplayable." The third movement was vindicated when a young violin student named Herbert Baumel played it for a committee of Curtis teachers after working for only a few hours on the challenging solo part.

Later biographers Barbara Heywood and George Diehl reconstructed the events somewhat differently. Briselli, it seems, was in fact quite enthusiastic about the first two movements. The controversy over the last movement was not about "playability," but about its extreme contrast with the first two movements: an almost frantic Presto that seemed at odds with the lyricism that preceded it. He suggested revisions to the form that would bring it into more traditional lines, but Barber refused. Eventually the commission was withdrawn, and Barber retained his rights to the concerto. There was a private performance by the Curtis Orchestra, with Baumel as soloist. After a few minor revisions, Barber offered the concerto to violinist Albert Spalding, who premiered it in Philadelphia in early 1941.

The opening movement (Allegro molto moderato) begins with a broad and lyrical theme laid out by the solo violin and strings. The movement continues as a rather gentle dialogue between soloist and orchestra, moving towards a grand Romantic pinnacle near the end, but coming to a rather quiet conclusion. This understated tone continues in the second movement (Andante sostenuto), which begins with a long, songlike melody presented by the solo oboe. When the solo part enters, it presents a somewhat more impassioned melody, before picking up the oboe's theme. Once again, the movement moves towards a climactic moment near the end, only to close quietly.

Several of Barber's biographers have pointed to the Violin Concerto as a turning point in his career: as the work in which he turned away from the essentially Romantic style of his early music towards a more austere style. The third movement was composed some months after the Allegro and Andante--after his return from Europe--and there is certainly a distinct difference between the mild quality of the two opening movements, and the hard-edged finale. The last movement, marked Presto in moto perpetuo, begins with the soloist moving at a furious pace, above oddly-placed accents in the orchestra. The violin passes the baton to the woodwinds near the middle of this movement, only to pick it up again, at the same pace, after a brief rest. The motion of this movement stops only at the very end, just before one final burst of solo fireworks.