# Barber's 'scandalous' overture

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/barber-s-scandalous-overture
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/barber-s-scandalous-overture.md
Podcast: [Composers Datebook](https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176)
Published: 2026-08-30T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VnCzW2iO9G8z4eDWfXCd/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/08/30/datebook_20260830_128.mp3
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VnCzW2iO9G8z4eDWfXCd/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/08/30/datebook_20260830_128.mp3
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Duration seconds: 120

## Resource

Synopsis On today’s date in 1933, the Philadelphia Orchestra was performing at its summer home at Robin Hood Dell. Conductor Alexander Smallens led the world premiere performance of a new work by 23-year-old composer Samuel Barber. It was his first orchestral composition to have a major public hearing, but oddly enough, young Mr. Barber himself was not in attendance. He was in Europe that summer, and so missed the premiere of his overture to The School for Scandal , a musical romp inspired by the 18th century English Restoration comedy of the same name by Richard Sheridan. Even before he had left the Curtis Institute of Music, where he pursued a triple major in piano, composition, and voice, Barber had begun winning prizes that enabled him to study abroad. Until the outbreak of World War II, Barber’s musical career was quite Eurocentric. His School for Scanda l overture, in fact, was written in Italy in 1931. Barber’s Symphony No. 1 premiered in Rome in 1936, and the following year was played by the Vienna Philharmonic at the 1937 Salzburg Music Festival. That led to stateside performances and commissions from conductors like Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini. Music Played in Today's Program Samuel Barber (1910-1981): School for Scandal overture; Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, conductor; Argo 436 288

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