I’ve been remiss in not posting about it for a little while, but I’m still having a blast making my way through Howard Pollack’s 700-page Samuel Barber biography. Lots of great stuff in there, for music geeks, for anyone interested in local history (by local, I mean if you happen to live in the Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York area or have been to Tanglewood), and more broadly, for anyone interested in the cultural and social history of 20th century America.
There are too many amusing or even startling connections to itemize, but surely one of the most surprising is that actor Patrick Swayze, who I think most people are aware was a dancer as well as an actor, once appeared in a ballet choreographed to Barber’s solo piano work “Excursions.”
Swayze, a principal with the Eliot Feld Ballet, was one of an ensemble of six who danced in the premiere of Felds’ “Excursions” at New York Public Theater in October 1975.
“Excursions” is distinguished in Barber’s output as one of his few works evidently touched by American popular idioms (“Souvenirs” is another), with the influence of blues, folk ballads, and fiddle tunes. In its breezier moments, it almost seems as if the composer had been listening to Vince Guaraldi – which couldn’t possibly be the case, since the four movements were written between 1942 and 1944. The last movement is a barn dance, which inevitably calls to mind Aaron Copland (“Rodeo” was first performed in 1942), but Barber approaches the material very differently.
The first movement was written for Jeanne Behrend, the composer’s friend and former classmate at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Then Vladimir Horowitz took an interest. He gave the debut of movements I, II and IV at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music. Subsequently, he took them to Carnegie Hall. The third movement was yet to be written. The official premiere of the complete set was given by Behrend, who performed all four movements in December 1948. Personally, I like the third movement best. It just makes me happy.
I’m not sure that Barber ever did any dirty dancing, but clearly he’s having the time of his life. Nobody puts Barber in a corner!
Listen to “Excursions” here, performed by John Browning, the pianist for whom the composer wrote his Pulitzer Prize winning Piano Concerto:
You’ll find more information about Howard Pollack’s “Samuel Barber: His Life and Legacy,” released earlier this month by University of Illinois Press, by following the link. Highly recommended, if you’re at all interested in classical music of the 20th century. (Barber lived from 1910 to 1981.) What a life, and how much the country has changed!
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