Samuel Barlow

Samuel Barlow (June 1, 1892 - September 19, 1982) was an American composer.

Barlow studied at Harvard University and then in New York under Percy Goetschius and Franklin Robinson; he also studied with Ottorino Respighi in Rome in 1923. He worked in civic agencies which classical music from the 1910s into the 1930s; among them was the New York Community Chorus, of which he was the first chairman. He was a regular contributor to the journal "Modern Music".

His opera "Mon ami Pierrot", based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lully, was performed at the Opera-Comique in Paris on January 11, 1935; it was the first opera ever written by an American to be performed there. He wrote a symphonic concerto, "Babar", which makes use of slide projectors. His works are musically conservative and show the influence of Johannes Brahms.

Works

"Partial"
*"3 Songs from the Chinese" (voice and ensemble, 1924)
*"Vocalise" (1926)
*"Alba" (symphonic poem, 1927)
*"Ballo Sardo" (ballet, 1928)
*"Circus Overture" (1930)
*"Piano Concerto" (1931)
*"Scherzo" (string quartet, 1933)
*"Spanish Quarter" (piano, 1933)
*"Mon ami Pierrot" (opera after Sacha Guitry, 1934)
*"Biedermeier Waltzes" (1935)
*"Babar" (symphonic concerto, 1936)
*"Amanda" (opera, 1936)
*"Aphitryon 38" (incidental music, 1937)
*"Leda" (1939)
*"Sousa ad Parnassum" (1939)
*"Conversation with Tchekhov" (piano trio, 1940)
*"Jardin de La Notre (piano)

References

*H. Wiley Hitchcock, "Samuel Barlow". "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians" online.