Samuel Barber's Four Songs, Op. 13 (1937-40) is one of many pieces composed during an extremely productive span in Barber's young career. The second song of the piece, "A Nun Takes the Veil: Heaven Haven" was composed in 1937, the same year that his First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12 was composed. The final two songs of the cycle were composed the following year, along with Adagio for Strings (1938), adapted from the String Quartet, Op. 11 (1936). The next significant work is the Violin Concerto, Op. 14 (1939). The opening song of Four Songs was completed in 1940, the year that Barber composed the work for male chorus and kettledrums, A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map, Op. 15. Also composed over nearly the same stretch of time as Four Songs was Reincarnations, Op. 16 (1936-40), a cycle of madrigals for chorus.

The texts chosen for Four Songs are not unified by their subject matters. Each separate subject, though, was individually appealing to Barber. Also, the songs are not connected by musical elements, such as melodies or motives, as was the case in his Three Songs, Op. 10 (1936). Each song was composed independently of one another, and the four were grouped together and published in 1940. Four Songs was first performed on April 4, 1941, by the soprano Barbara Troxell with pianist Eugene Bossart at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Some of the songs gained popularity over the years, especially "Sure on this Shining Night," the final movement of Four Songs. Barber often relayed an anecdote concerning a New York City telephone operator who withheld his new telephone number until he sang the opening phrase of "Sure on this Shining Night," which she loved.

The first song, "Nocturne," is based on a love poem by Frederic Prokosch of the same title. The speaker is a person talking to his or her lover at night. The song is written only for voice, male or female. The opening phrases resemble a lullaby, set in a slightly chromatic harmonic language by Barber. The middle section becomes more active with a chordal accompaniment pattern resembling Schumann's "Ich Grolle Nicht," a song from his Dichterliebe (1840).

"A Nun Takes the Veil: Heaven Haven" is the title of the second song of the cycle. It is based on a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89), a Victorian poet. This text deals with the subject of solitude, in which Barber had a lifelong interest. The speaker is a woman who has decided to become a nun, and discusses the beauty of her destination. The song is extremely squared and rhythmic. The piano accompaniment is primarily chordal and the vocal line is syllabic and melodic. A mood of simplicity is conveyed. "Secrets of the Old," the third song, is based on poetry by W. B. Yeats (1865-1939). The theme of the song is friendship, conveyed through three elderly women. The final song is "Sure on this Shining Night," previously mentioned.

© All Music Guide

###

Sure on this shining night is the third of four songs that make up Barber's Opus 13 collection (1937-1940). It is a relatively early work, though as most of his admirers are aware, Barber divulged a mastery of his craft even in his earliest compositions. Here he produces a song of about two minutes in duration and uses a text by poet James Agee.

The mood is dark, the music having a passionate post-Romantic cast, almost Rachmaninovian in its gloomy but lovely lyrical flow. The beautiful main theme is sung to the title words, at first bringing a hopeful feeling, but the trajectory of the music gradually works downward and turns pessimistic. Still, in its second subject it rises defiantly and passionately, but again loses energy and sinks lower. On its last appearance the main theme is slightly darker and resigned to the desolate mood expressed in the text: "Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wandering for alone...." The accompaniment on piano (or in the orchestral version) is lovely, often echoing the vocal line in sparing but deftly imagined writing. This is a beautiful song that will appeal especially to lovers of Romantic and American vocal music.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.