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Overture to The School for Scandal, Op. 5, is a concert overture by Samuel Barber. It is Barber's first work for full orchestra, composed in 1931 while he was completing his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.[1] The premiere was given on August 30, 1933 by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Alexander Smallens.[2] It lasts around 8 min.[1]
The title refers to the comedy The School for Scandal written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and the overture by Barber intended to reflect the spirit of the play.[1]
The instrumentation is as follows: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, bells, celesta, harp and strings. It is characterized by orchestral brilliance and a number of shifts in tempo and dynamics.
The overture helped to establish Barber's national reputation and became in the 1950s a more regular part of the repertoire of American orchestras. It won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize of Columbia University in 1933.[3]
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