Barber: Fugue from the Piano Sonata, Op. 26

Robert Berkowitz, MD plays the last movement, the fugue, from the Piano Sonata by Samuel Barber. The sonata was performed in its entirety for the first time on December 9, 1949 by Vladimir Horowitz in Havana, Cuba. Horowitz gave its American debut at Carnegie Hall in January 1950. The Sonata is a 20th century masterpiece that combines modern and romantic elements. Barber was a very good pianist, so he wrote very well for the instrument. He also had a talent for writing pieces specifically for the instrumentalist to whom it was dedicated, thus the Sonata takes advantage of some of Horowitz's particular strengths, like his complete independence of fingers, his broad dynamic range and his exquisite capacity to separate voices. The Sonata is very well represented in the recording catalog, with performances by Horowitz, Cliburn, John Browning, Garrick Ohlsson, Earl Wild, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Olga Kern, Ruth Laredo, Daniel Pollack and many others. I fell in love with the piece back in 1980, after being completely stricken by a live performance of Barber's String Quartet by the Stradivari Quartet. That experience sent me on a journey to listen to as much of Barber's music as possible, and I encountered Browning's first recording of the piece I performed the Sonata in my Senior Piano recital in college and had the privilege of playing it for Daniel Pollack (who premiered the Sonata in the Soviet Union). Thanks for listening.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Barber
• Sonata
• Piano
• Berkowitz
• Robert
• 20th
• Century

[PianoPsych]

@rmac1042 Thanks!

[rmac1042]

Nice job!

[PianoPsych]

@MetaTheorist Thank you!

[MetaTheorist]

Wow! What an amazing rendition. I wish I could play like that.