Five Hermit Songs Op.29

Barber was an
important writer for the voice in opera and song.  He studied at the Curtis Institute in
Philadelphia and then with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He composed
three operas, many symphonic and chamber music works and a large number of
songs. Barber visited Ireland in 1952 and toured the country, exploring its
literature and folk material.  The Hermit
Songs date from 1953 and employ translations of verses written by Irish monks
between the 8^th and 13^th centuries. Leontyne Price gave
the first performance in the Library of Congress in 1953 with the composer
accompanying her. There are ten in all with our soloist choosing the second,
third, fourth, sixth and tenth for this afternoon. Barber employs various
modern techniques such as mixed rhythms, no time signatures and unusual chords
in fourths and other irregular combinations, but he still retains a strong
melodic line in his imaginative settings.

First is the brief The Company of the Bell, as the12th
century scribe records his preference for a church bell to foolish women. In the 8^th century verses of St Ita’s Vision a breathless recitative
is followed by a moving lullaby for the Baby Jesus.  The
Heavenly Banquet is attributed to St. Brigid in the 10^th
century. It is an amusing account of the Saint’s list of those she would
welcome to her heavenly banquet.  Sea-Snatch dates from the 8^th
or 9^th century and is a lament for a ship lost at sea.  The last song from the cycle The desire for Hermitage again has an
early date of the 8^th/9^th century.  Barber himself undertook periods of retreat
and contemplation, living away from cities in the Mount Kisco area of New York
State.  In the poem the author praises
seclusion:  Alone I came into the world and alone I shall go from it.