THE STORY BEHIND: Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915"

Title: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, op.24

Composer: Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Last time performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic: Last performed May 9, 1998 with Larry Rachleff conducting and soloist Diane Alexander. In addition to a solo soprano, this piece is scored for piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, harp and strings.

The Story: Samuel Barber’s homage to a simpler time in America is well known to both Robert Spano and Jessica Rivera. Last performed by them both together for Maestro Spano’s final concert as Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony, Barber’s dreamy and nostalgic Knoxville: Summer of 1915 recounts the sights, sounds, and musings of a young boy as he lays on the grass on a lazy summer evening, surrounded by family. Ms. Rivera’s warm, full-bodied voice, coupled with her expressively subtle facial expressions, perfectly capture the sense of a child’s wonderment, as well as the depth of meaning of James Agee’s original text.

In the lingering Tennessee light, the boy observes stars, sparks on a streetcar (achieved by the unusual effect of pizzicati glissando in the lower strings), “people in pairs” walking down the sidewalk, and subdued talk about “nothing in particular.” The music’s structure, described by Barber as a “lyric rhapsody,” closely follows the free flow of Agee’s prose. A rocking triple meter invites us into the dreamlike world of the piece, as instrumental lines emerge and converse, from the pastorale serenity of the oboe to the plaintive call of the horn. At times the music shimmers with an Americana reminiscent of the opening chords of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. A central section follows the inherent drama of the musings to a stirring climax, before settling back into a reprise of the opening. But rather than end with a rosy sense of contentment, the young narrator leaves us with an unsettling, unexplained observation: his family “will not ever tell me who I am.”

Program Notes by Jamie Allen © 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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