David Kelley Analytical Techniques

Dr. Johanson

May 10, 2015

Samuel Barber

String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11

Samuel Osmond Barber II was a 20th century American composer of note. Some of his

most respected works include his Adagio for Strings, his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and

his opera Vanessa. In the following pages we will look briefly at the life of Mr. Barber, and then

proceed to examine and analyze his String Quartet in B minor.

Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He came from a

respected home where life was comfortable. He was exposed to music at a young age, his

mother being a pianist. He had an aunt who was a leading singer at the Metropolitan opera and

an uncle who was was a composer of art songs. Barber began his studies of piano at age 6. At

age 7 he wrote his first composition, the solo piano work Sadness. At age 14 Barber moved to

Philadelphia to attend the Curtis Institute if Music, where he was a prodigy in voice, piano and

composition. At age 18 he was awarded the Joseph Bearns prize by Colombia University for his

violin sonata (no longer extant).

Barber continued to write successful compositions through his early twenties. Then in

1935, at the age of 25, Barber was the recipient of the Prix de Rome (Rome Prize) as well as a

Pulitzer traveling scholarship which allowed him the freedom to move abroad. It was during this

period, from 1935-36, that he composed his String Quartet in B minor, op. 11. Barber was living

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in Austria when he began the first sketches of the work. He originally intended it to be

premiered by the Curtis String Quartet of Philadelphia, but did not finish the piece before their

scheduled tour. In a letter to the quartets cellist, Orlando Cole, Barber wrote about having

completed the slow movement, calling it a knockout. That same year (1936) Barber would

arrange this slow movement into the now famous Adagio for Strings.

The work premiered on December 14, 1936 at the Villa Aurelia in Rome. It was

performed by the Pro-Arte Quartet of Belgium. However, after the concert Barber withdrew the

final movement to rework it, which he did in a series of revisions leading up to the final version

in 1943. This version premiered at the Library of Congress in Washington DC on May 28 that

year, and was performed by the Budapest String Quartet. The work is dedicated to Louise and

Sidney Homer, Barbers Aunt and Uncle mentioned earlier.

Op. 11 is a three movement string quartet with an overall tonality of B minor, though the

slow middle movement, the Adagio, is in B flat minor. Much of the material from the first

movement returns in the third, as will be shown later, which gives a cyclical form to the quartet

as a whole. The first movement, marked Molto allegro e appossionato, is in Sonata Form. Right

away in the opening measure we find our first theme, which also serves as a rhythmic foundation

for the rest of the movement. That is the quartet note followed by two sixteenth and an eighth

note pattern as shown in figure 1 below.

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Figure 1: opening theme and rhythmic pattern which serves as a foundation for the movement.

These first ten measures are an introduction, until rehearsal 1 where we find the second theme as shown in figure 3:

Following this is the third theme, a lyrical melodic line which begins 5 measures after rehearsal 1 as shown in figure 3:

After the third theme makes its entrance we have a return of theme I material, with some rhythmic variance, which acts as a transition into the development beginning at rehearsal 3. The development begins tranquillo, and Barber takes us through a rhythmic elongation of of theme I as shown in figure 4 below:

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Figure 3: the third theme

Figure 2: the second theme

Figure 4

Six measures later we have development of theme II as shown in figure 5:

Barber continues to develop the material, sometimes interweaving material from the different themes together, until the cadence on the dominant chord (F sharp major) three measure after rehearsal 12. Following this we have a variation of the introduction acting as a transition into the recapitulation which begins at rehearsal 13. Through the recap he continues to develop previous material, including a rhythmic truncation of the 2nd theme four measures after rehearsal 13. A brief coda beginning at rehearsal 16 brings the movement to a close.

II. Molto Adagio

The second movement is in B flat minor and is sectional, with an ABACA form. The majority of the movement consists of a meandering melodic line of quarter notes played by one instrument while the other three provide the harmonic accompaniment. This line is passed between the instruments throughout the movement. The A section begins with the violin taking the melody as shown in figure 6:

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Figure 5

Figure 6

The B section begins at rehearsal 1 with the cello taking the melody, while the violin now begins a counter-melody as shown in figure 7:

Five measures after rehearsal 2 the violin and cello switch, the violin taking the melody and the cello taking the counter. At rehearsal 3 we see the second A section, where the bass takes the melody. We also find another variation in the accompaniment, a new rhythmic patter shown in figure 8:

At rehearsal 4 begins the C section, marked by increasing tension as indicated in the score. The melody is passed between all four players in this section, beginning with the violin, the bass, the viola, the cello, and back to the violin. The last four bars of the C section are all chordal harmonies at increasingly louder volumes. This pattern continues at rehearsal 5, although the volume is suddenly very quiet. These eight bars act as a transition back to the final A section, and also suggests a possible thematic link with theme two of the first movement:

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Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9: showing a possible link between mvmts. I and II

At the Tempo I marking we have our final A section, with the melody now being doubled in octaves by the violin and cello. The movement ends on the dominant, an F major chord.

III. Molto Allegro (come prima)

The third and final movement is a reprise of the first movement, sectional in form. It begins in the key of B flat minor but ends in B minor, reversing the order established from the first to the second movement. Barber originally wrote the finale in a rondo form in the key of B major, but decided to change it when he had complaints that it did not work after the Adagio (BaileyShea, p. 8). The movement begins with a return to the first theme of movement I as shown in figure 10:

At rehearsal 7 we have a return of theme II, but with the theme 1 rhythmic pattern beneath as shown in figure 11:

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Figure 10

Figure 11

Barber then proceeds through some minor development of the themes, primarily with a spinning out of the 2nd theme material beginning halfway through rehearsal 8 and extending to four bars after section 10:

At rehearsal 11 a Presto begins with an ascending sequence of rising and falling melodic lines:

Finally, the piece winds down and closes with variations of the theme I material:

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Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14