Welcome to Song! The online repository for information on classical song.


CyberSing 2004: See and Hear the winners

Samuel Barber

1910-1981

Barber never tried to go along with the sounds of many of his contemporaries; his songs, based largely on Romantic tonal writing with hints of Stravinsky, continue to delight.

Victoria Etnier Villamil writes: "Though commonly categorized as a "new-Romantic," Barber did not wear his heart on his sleeve. His is a guarded emotion, guided by inherent good taste and twentieth-century sensibility."

Nathan Gunn, baritone
Kevin Murphy, piano.

Sure on this Shining Night

Set by Samuel Barber to poetry by James Agee (1909-1955), "Description of Elysium," from Permit Me Voyage

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

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