Excursions Op. 20 No.

1
(Samuel Barber)

Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was an American composer who generally wrote in a strongly
melodic and highly approachable style. He studied piano and composition at the Curtis
Institute, and was also a fine baritone singer. Acknowledgment as a composer came in his early
20s, with the first performance of his Overture to The School for Scandal. He is best known for
his songs, the Adagio for Strings and his Violin Concerto. He also composed operas,
symphonies and chamber music. Barber’s published output for piano was small, and includes
Excursions Op. 20, Piano Sonata Op. 26, Souvenirs Op. 28, Nocturne Op. 33, Ballade Op. 46,
and a Piano Concerto (1962, for which he was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize).

Barber’s style is generally a continuation of European tradition; some of his most well known
compositions could be described as neoromantic, because of their strong lyricism and late 19th
Century harmonic vocabulary - the Adagio for Strings is a good example of this style.
His compositions after 1939, including the solo piano works, incorporate some features of a
more progressive 20th Century style.

The set of four pieces entitled Excursions was composed in 1944 and published in the
following year. Their first performance (excluding No. 3) was given by Vladimir Horowitz in
1945, and the complete set was premiered by Barber’s friend Jeanne Behrend in 1948.
The Excursions are one of the few instances where Barber writes in a deliberately “American”
manner, incorporating various American folk and popular idioms. There was a pervasive
“Americana” movement in American art music during the final years of World War II -
Copland’s ballets Billy the Kid and Rodeo are probably the best known examples.
The title “Excursions” also indicates that they are a departure from Barber’s usual style.

The key of No. 1 is C minor, usually in its natural form, without the raised 7th note (i.e. aeolian
mode). There is a perpetual motion character. Stylistic features include modality (with some
similarities to the blues scales of popular music), bitonality (including “blue” notes”),
occasional quartal (4th-based) harmony, dissonance and ostinato. The ostinato, which is
reminiscent of boogie woogie bass patterns, provides a strong sense of tonal centre, making a
I-IV-I-V-I progression overall, and this also defines the rondo formal structure of the piece.

A b.1-28 C tonal centre. Mostly aeolian mode, but shifting to mixolydian in b.10-12 and
b.24-26. Based on short recurring motives.
29-37 Bitonal: left hand remains in C aeolian, with right hand now in Eb aeolian. The
resulting clash between G and Gb is similar to a “blue” note in popular music.
Uses the same motives as b.1-28. In bars 35-37, both hands alternate between
Eb and C tonal centres.
B 38-53 F tonal centre. Left hand ostinato transposed to F. Right hand has a new motive,
beginning F aeolian, then becoming bitonal with left hand (Eb minor in b.41, C
minor in b.47). Concludes with a series of bitonal 4th-based arpeggios (b.53).
A 54-65 C tonal centre returns, mixolydian then aeolian, with a reprise of previous motives.
C 66-68 G tonal centre. Left hand ostinato transposed to G, creating bitonality with right
hand, which initially has a tonal centre of F. The right hand becomes increasingly
capricious from b.76, in no fixed key, building up to a ff climax.
A 90- C tonal centre returns. In b.98-106, there is a “blue note” effect in the right hand
caused by the alternation of E flat and E natural.

Copyright © 2008 by R. A. Hamilton. These notes may not be photocopied. www.rosshamilton.com.au

Prepared for Shen Rong. Order: 48972