Overture to The School for Scandal, Op. 5
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

[1931]

Samuel Barber was a child prodigy who enrolled in the founding class at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 14. He composed his first work for full orchestra while still a student, drafting the Overture to The School for Scandal when he was 21. The Philadelphia Orchestra premiered it two years later, and Columbia University recognized the work with a prestigious Bearns Prize, setting Barber on the path toward a thriving career before he had even graduated. 

While the title and inspiration came from a satirical British play written in 1777, this music was always meant to stand alone as a concert overture. Formal counterpoint and ceremonious dotted rhythms (i.e., alternating long and short notes) hint at the Old World source material underlying the fresh, witty music from an American star on the rise.

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celesta, strings