This page lists all recordings of Four Songs, Op. 13, No. 4 (Nocturne), by Samuel Barber (1910-81) on CD. Generally, more recent CDs are listed first, but with priority given to items that are in stock. |
All recordingsPrices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Nathan Gunn - American Anthem
Nathan Gunn & Kevin Murphy Nathan Gunn was born in 1970 at South Bend, Indiana. He has appeared in many of the world's well-known opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Festival and the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. The music here runs the entire gamut of American song, from folksong arrangements to familiar art songs, from crossover ballads and patriotic anthems. Well-known names from more serious music such as Ives, Copland, Barber and Rorem share company with composers of more popular repertoire such as Bolcom, Gorney and Scheer. Gunn sings everything with a seemingly endless flow of gorgeous sound; he is sensitive to the words and changing moods, and above all, shows an evident love of the music. “Nathan Gunn gives cool, patrician performances in a cunningly woven quilt of New World song from Barber and Bolcom to Ives and Rorem. Sadly no song texts here.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2009 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Barber - String Quartet, Serenade, Dover Beach & Songs
Barber: | Dover Beach, Op. 3 Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 1 Three Songs, Op. 2 Three Songs, Op. 10 Four Songs, Op. 13, No. 4 (Nocturne) Sure on this shining night, Op. 13 No. 3 Three Songs, Op. 45 Despite and Still, Op. 41 with Eric Cutler, Bradley Moore String Quartet, Op. 11 |
Thomas Allen & Roger Vignoles Endellion String Quartet Although he wrote two large scale operas, two symphonies and a concerto each for violin, cello and piano, the majority of Barber's compositions were on a much smaller scale. This collection of songs and chamber pieces contains some of his earliest work, dating from 1928 to 1940, with two groups of songs from 1968 and 1972 respectively. The Adagio movement of the String Quartet from 1936 has, in its version for string orchestra, become one of the most popular works by an American composer. Here is an opportunity to hear it as Barber originally intended, and the intimacy brought to it by a smaller ensemble lends it a greater intensity. Barber was a fine composer for the voice and his output of songs was prolific. Dover Beach, to words by Matthew Arnold, is one of Barber's finest compositions and it is beautifully sung here by Thomas Allen. “Mostly a wide-ranging choice of Barber's songs, intense and rather Brittenish in idiom, but polished and often warm-hearted, plus his String Quartet, source of the famous Adagio.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Barber - Songs
Gerald Finley (baritone) & Julius Drake (piano) The Aronowitz Ensemble The wonderful Gerald Finley, described recently as ‘the best living baritone currently at the peak of his powers’ (The Globe and Mail), brings his ‘glorious sound and great dramatic instinct’ to this fascinating selection of songs, sensitively accompanied by Julius Drake. “This is a pretty stunning achievement. At his most mellifluous and focused, Gerald Finley has beauty of tone to spare. But he is also at his most expressive – hollowing out the voice for the hopelessness of the song “Bessie Bobtail”, letting it splinter with anger at the climax of the brief, furious “Sea Snatch”.
Throughout, Julius Drake proves a predictably accomplished, thoughtful partner. The pair move easily and logically from the prettiness of the very early songs through the complexities of the Hermit Songs and the pensive Mélodies passagères.
It’s a canny move
to place Dover Beach
as the final track. The introduction of the string quartet to close the disc shifts the mood, sending us off in another direction. It comes as a hopeful reminder of the wonder of love, even with a sting in its tail. Entirely appropriate for a bittersweet, marvellous collection.” Gramophone Magazine “Performances of this calibre emphasise Barber's stature in the mainstream… The immediate comparison is with the Gramophone Award-winning Thomas Hampson… Most I prefer Finley, and the recording is warmer.” Gramophone Magazine, Janurary 2008 “As on his 2005 Ives collection, the Canadian baritone Gerald Finley is golden in tone, persuasive in phrasing, and unfailingly responsive to the sound and sense of the words. Julius Drake once more proves a strong and imaginative partner, and a quartet from the Aronowitz Ensemble makes a promising recording debut.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2007 *****  BBC Music Magazine
Choral & Song Choice - December 2007 |
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| |  | Roberta Alexander Sings Barber
Roberta Alexander (Soprano) Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Edo De Waart | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Gramophone Awards 2008
Gramophone Magazine