<<  -- 5 --  Jennifer Paull    TIMEWARP

Barber promised that the finale would provide ample opportunity for virtuosic display. Upon receiving this completed movement, Briselli complained yet again, this time that it was too difficult and unplayable! Barber had given this finale the direction 'Moto perpetuo' -- le mot juste! There is an opening flourish on the timpani and the soloist introduces a fiery motive above a rhythmical jabbing accompaniment. This returns almost rondo-like throughout. A whirlwind of a coda at vertiginous speed and utter brilliance, showed Fels and Co exactly what pyrotechnics were all about. What a pity nobody thought of playing it (greatly amplified) as Y2K struck, and National Monuments became a blaze of colour and light!

'I write for the present and I write for myself!'

Samuel Fels demanded that his money be returned, and Barber, who had already spent it in Europe, called in another violinist (Oscar Schumsky) to demonstrate his composition to both Fels and Briselli. One can find evidence (New York Times, 29 June 1980) that the violinist summoned to prove Barber's point, was Herbert Baumel, another violin student at Curtis. In fact, the theme and variations around this sad affair are many and varied in claim and counter-claim.

Baumel is quoted as having remarked:

'I looked [the finale] over, practised it for an hour or so, and returned to school in the afternoon to play it ... I proved to their delight that I could play it at any tempo they wanted me to.'

Many variations of this undignified tale pivot around the sum of $500 that Barber was obliged to return. However, in exchange, Briselli relinquished his rights to the first public performance. This was given by Albert Spalding with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy on 7 February 1941.

Continue >>