Melodies Passageres - Barber: Songs / De Pledge, Jeffers

$18.99
Label
Quartz Music
Release Date
January 1, 2012
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      BARBER, SAMUEL
    • PERFORMER
      Gweneth
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 01, 2012
    • UPC
      880040207924
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      QTZ2079
    • LABEL
      Quartz Music
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Chamber Music & Recitals
    Works ⌄

    1. Puisque tout passe

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    2. Un cygne

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    3. Tombeau dans un parc

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    4. Le clocher chante

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    5. Depart

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    6. Nuvoletta, Op. 25

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    7. No. 1. Rain has Fallen

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    8. No. 2. Sleep now

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    9. No. 3. I hear an army

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    10. No. 1. A nun takes the veil

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    11. No. 2. The secrets of the old

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    12. No. 3. Sure on this shining night

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    13. No. 4. Nocturne

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    14. No. 1. A Last Song

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    15. No. 2. My Lizard

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    16. No. 3. In the Wilderness

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    17. No. 4. Solitary Hotel

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    18. No. 5. Despite and Still

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    19. No. 1. At Saint Patrick's Purgatory

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    20. No. 2. Church Bells at Night

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    21. No. 3. Saint Ita's Vision

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    22. No. 4. The Heavenly Banquet

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    23. No. 5. The Crucifixion

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    24. No. 6. Sea-Snatch

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    25. No. 7. Promiscuity

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    26. No. 8. The Monk and his Cat

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    27. No. 9. The Praises of God

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge

    28. No. 10. The Desire for Hermitage

      Composer: Samuel Barber

      Performer: Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, Stephen De Pledge


Barber's aunt was the most celebrated contralto of the day, and her husband Sidney Homer wrote a number of highly successful songs. Barber explained that "writing songs just seemed a natural thing to do." Barber had a fine baritone voice, studying singing as well as composition and piano at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Throughout his career, Barber's instinct for vocal shaping would inform his output; half of his published compositions are vocal, and even his instrumental works frequently possess a lyrical, cantabile quality. Furthermore, Barber's partner, Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007), was also a skilful composer of vocal music, and the pair undeniably influenced one another. In 1964, Menotti argued: "There is a certain indolence towards the use of the voice today, a tendency to treat the voice instrumentally, as if composers feared that its texture is too expressive, too human". This emotive humanity is not something Barber himself shied away from; on the contrary, as both composer and lyricist he was able to cut to the heart of a subject with both concision and beauty. Gweneth-Ann Jeffers is among the best of today's young British singers. She is noted for her commanding voice and vivid personality. She has already been heard in an exceptionally wide range of repertoire including leading roles for Welsh National Opera and Oper Köln as well as concert engagements in Britain, Europe, Australia and Japan. In the 07/08 season, she made several role débuts: Gutrune in Götterdämmerung at the BBC Proms with Donald Runnicles; the title roles in Tosca at the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon and the title role in Porgy and Bess for the Basel Chamber Orchestra and the Macedonian Philharmonic. She also performed Messiaen's Harawi as part of the Southbank Centre's composer centenary celebrations 'From the Canyons to the Stars' and at the 2008 BBC Proms.