Barber wrote three “essays” for orchestra. In them, he said he “borrowed a literary form for music to suggest an architectonic structure in which a thought is projected at the opening and then permitted to develop to a logical conclusion in the same way that a central thought unfolds
in an essay.”

Commissioned by Bruno Walter for the centennial of the New York Philharmonic, the Second Essay was introduced at Carnegie Hall in New York on April 16, 1942. Howard Taubman wrote in the New York Times: “His work, in a short space, creates and sustains a mood. Its thematic material is unashamedly lyrical, but also dignified. It is worked out for the orchestra with the economy of knowledge and assurance. Perhaps the composition is a shade too solemn, but a composer is entitled to his own thesis. Mr. Walter and the orchestra gave the essay a spacious. sonorous performance. Whether it was just what the composer wanted it is impossible to say. But Mr. Barber was there to take a bow and to thank Mr. Walter and the men.”

The Essay begins with an expansive melody first played by the solo flute, then by other instruments and finally by the strings. After a second theme from the violas and solo oboe comes a frenetic
fugue, introduced by the solo clarinet. This leads to a big climax in the brass and a concluding hymn-like section.

~ Program notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2023