While serving for the US Army Air Corps in 1944, Samuel Barber was granted some time off to compose, and so the homesick musician sought inspiration, as well as a little peace and quiet, at the new home that he and partner and fellow-composer Gian Carlo Menotti had bought the year earlier in Mount Kisco in New York's Westchester County—which they had dubbed "Capricorn" for the unique quality, and abundance, of light the place received during the winter months.
Adopting an instrumentation similar to Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2—three of the same solo instruments (flute, oboe and trumpet) and an orchestra of strings—Barber set about writing a concerto in a neoclassical style which he named the "Capricorn Concerto" in honor of his new homestead, which Barber and Menotti would end up calling home for nearly 40 years—birthplace of some of their greatest works and gathering place of fellow artists and intellectuals who wanted a retreat from city life.
On Thursday afternoon's Classical Music with Foley Schuler, we'll enjoy Barber's "Capricorn Concerto," as well as the Brandenburg Concerto of Bach on which it was modeled, some music of Menotti that he was writing around that same time—and much more.
You can hear Foley's musical selections—and stories behind the music—everyday weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
