I am sorry to learn from @[100052005895362:2048:H. Paul Moon] that the Philadelphia-born, Baltimore-raised musicologist Barbara Heyman has died. Heyman is regarded as the foremost biographer of American composer Samuel Barber (“Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music,” Oxford University Press, hardbound 1992; paperback 1994).

She lived most of her life in New York, city and state, collecting music degrees from Barnard, Columbia, and The Graduate School of New York City. Along the way, she raised a family in Port Washington and later found employment as director of the Brooklyn College Department of Publications. In September, she moved from her 40-year residence on the Upper East Side to be with her daughter in St. Louis.

She very nearly accompanied Paul and me to Carnegie Hall in 2022 for an all-Lukas Foss concert, with JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic, to mark the composer’s centenary. Sadly, she took a spill not long before, which understandably dampened her enthusiasm for a night out. I never did get to meet her.

Heyman was an indispensable contributor to Paul’s 2017 documentary, “Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty” (which was broadcast nationally on PBS). After learning of her death, Paul put together a three-minute tribute, which he managed to assemble remotely, accessing files on his home computer in NYC from where he’s currently bivouacking in the American West. You can view it at a link on this shared post.

You’ll also find a link to an extensive conversation with Heyman, to mark the publication of the second edition of her Barber book (Oxford, 2022), on Paul’s podcast, “Capricorn Conversations.”

Heyman died on Friday at the age of 91. R.I.P.