Piano Concerto (Barber)

The Piano Concerto, Op. 38, by Samuel Barber was commissioned by the music publishing company G. Schirmer Inc. in honor of the centenary of their founding. The work's premiere was on September 24, 1962, in the opening festivities of Philharmonic Hall, now David Geffen Hall, the first hall built at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, with John Browning as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf.

Barber began work on the concerto in March 1960. John Browning was the intended soloist from the outset and the concerto was written with his specific keyboard technique in mind (Heyman 1992, 410–11). The first two movements were completed before the end of 1960 but the last movement was not completed until 15 days before the world premiere performance. According to Browning (in the liner notes for his 1991 RCA Victor recording of the Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony), the initial version of the piano part of the third movement was unplayable at performance tempo; Barber resisted reworking the piano part until Vladimir Horowitz reviewed it and also deemed it unplayable at full tempo. The work was met with great critical acclaim with Barber winning his second Pulitzer Prize in 1963 and the Music Critics Circle Award in 1964.

It was recorded by Browning with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell in 1964 and also played live while being on tour with the Cleveland Orchestra in Europe in 1965. He recorded it again in 1991, with the St. Louis Symphony, conducted by Leonard Slatkin on the RCA Victor Red Seal label. Other recordings include: 1976 by the MIT Symphony Orchestra for Vox/Turnabout; a Naxos release performed by Stephen Prutsman with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Marin Alsop; and a performance by Tedd Joselson with the London Symphony Orchestra directed by Andrew Schenck.

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