Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty

2017
2h 10m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

YOUR RATING

Samuel Barber in Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty (2017)

Trailer for the feature-length documentary "Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty." With English subtitles (click the CC icon at bottom-right).

Directed by:
H. Paul Moon

Consulting Producers:
Barbara B. Heyman
Pierre BrÃ©vignon

In order of appearance (in this trailer):
William Schuman, composer
J. Reilly Lewis, conductor
Jenny Oaks Baker, violin
Kim Allen Kluge, conductor
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Barbara Heyman, author
William Sharp, baritone
Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano
Michael Adcock, piano
Christopher Rex, cello
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Thomas Larson, author
Pierre BrÃ©vignon, author
Leonard Bernstein, composer
Marin Alsop, conductor

For more information, visit: http://www.samuelbarberfilm.com

Play trailer3:09

1 Video

11 Photos

Biography Documentary History Music

Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. "Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty" is a probing exploration of the American composer's music and melanch... Read allKnown for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. "Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty" is a probing exploration of the American composer's music and melancholia.Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. "Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty" is a probing exploration of the American composer's music and melancholia.

Director
- H. Paul Moon
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

YOUR RATING

Director
- H. Paul Moon
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win

Featured review

9/10

The title says it all

This is a well-researched documentary about the life of the American composer Samuel Barber, who died in 1981. It has interviews with people who knew him in various ways, as well as older footage of interviews with Barber himself and many others, including his life-long partner Gian Carlo Menotti. Excerpts of his music range through most of his career. It shows where he grew up (West Chester PA), where he lived most of his working life (Mt. Kisco, NY), and where he studied, starting at age 14 (Curtis Institute, Philadelphia).

It is simply a must-see for any fan of Barber's music. And if you are not yet a fan yet, it is a good introduction. Barber lived in the 20th century and developed his own harmonic style, but he was a romantic at heart, closer in spirit to Brahms than to most others composing "classical" music at the same time.

It aired on some PBS stations on July 15.