Upton comments on the decrease in song writing throughout the music community in his article “Aspects of the Modern ArtSongWhile Modernist poems did not make for easy adaptation into song, the texts that Barber utilized for his compositions worked especially well. Barber was drawn to texts that had regular metric patterns and rhyme schemes, and that also produced within him a meaningful reaction. As Jean Louise Kreiling notes in her doctoral dissertation, “Samuel Barber’s selection and handling of texts suggests that his creative attention could be drawn by a sonorous rhyme scheme, a striking image, an eloquent formal design, and/or a compelling atmosphere—and that his musical forms and methods were governed by such varying responses.44 As an avid reader of slightly earlier works, Barber was intrigued by these more traditional elements of poetry described above. Coincidently, these works made for excellent song writing, when compared to the Modernist poetry written by Barber’s contemporaries. The songs of Samuel Barber are a unique collection that well represents his musical
Upton comments on the decrease in song writing throughout the music community in his article “Aspects of the Modern ArtSongWhile Modernist poems did not make for easy adaptation into song, the texts that Barber utilized for his compositions worked especially well. Barber was drawn to texts that had regular metric patterns and rhyme schemes, and that also produced within him a meaningful reaction. As Jean Louise Kreiling notes in her doctoral dissertation, “Samuel Barber’s selection and handling of texts suggests that his creative attention could be drawn by a sonorous rhyme scheme, a striking image, an eloquent formal design, and/or a compelling atmosphere—and that his musical forms and methods were governed by such varying responses.44 As an avid reader of slightly earlier works, Barber was intrigued by these more traditional elements of poetry described above. Coincidently, these works made for excellent song writing, when compared to the Modernist poetry written by Barber’s contemporaries. The songs of Samuel Barber are a unique collection that well represents his musical