Samuel Barber | Ian Sidden

10 Greatest Composers

At the New York Times, music critic Anthony Tommasini is compiling a list of the ten greatest composers. Here’s my list and my reasons. Who would be in yours and how would you do it?

This is my Despite and Still by Samuel Barber set from my graduate recital. I must give great thanks for PhoebeJoy who worked so hard with me on these pieces and to my dad who after first hearing the texts in isolation immediately figured out what was going on in this cycle.

Despite and Still Part III: “A Last Song”, “My Lizard”, and Some Conclusions

[for thoughts on "In the Wilderness", and "Despite and Still" and "Solitary Hotel"]

The first two songs of Despite and Still are “A Last Song” and “My Lizard (Letter Wish for to a Young Love)”. Since this whole discussion of this cycle has been backwards, I will talk about “Lizard” first.

“A Last Song” Recording

Here is another selection from my upcoming recital. This is “A Last Song”, which is somewhat ironically the first song in Barber’s cycle Despite and Still. Phoebe Joy and I performed this on March 9 here at New Mexico State along with “Von ewiger Liebe” by Brahms (which will be posted on

Despite and Still: Part II “In the Wilderness”

[for thoughts on "Despite and Still" and "Solitary Hotel" see here.]

The middle song in Samuel Barber’s cycle Despite and Still is titled “In the Wilderness”, and like the first and last (one and five respectively) the poem is Robert Graves’. Graves wrote it when he was young, and his belief in

10 Greatest Composers

Despite and Still Videos

Despite and Still Part III: “A Last Song”, “My Lizard”, and Some Conclusions

“A Last Song” Recording

Despite and Still: Part II “In the Wilderness”