Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of American composer Samuel Barber in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Barber was one of the 20th century composers who never stopped composing beautiful melodious music which was sometimes derided as "old-fashioned" by snobbish critics.
I'll bring your attention to his gorgeous violin concerto in a performance by young Canadian violinist James Ehnes from Brandon, Manitoba with the Vancouver Symphony. This disc, which also includes the concertos by Korngold and Walton, two other composers who gave us beauty in sound rather than sterile academic exercises, won a Grammy in 2008, as well as the Canadian Juno award for Canadian artists.
This superb disc, which I'm listening to as I type, is available from
Amazon and the other usual sources to give you a lifetime of listening pleasure.
