3 - Samuel Barber Interviewed by James Fassett (1949)

Summary

CBS Radio intermission interview with James Fassett. CBS Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Bernard Herrmann, June 19, 1949. Knoxville: Summer of 1915—radio premiere with Eileen Farrell.

James Fassett (1927–2009) was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, and earned degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth. He started his career as an announcer with WBZ in Boston and as a critic for The Boston Globe. He joined CBS Radio in 1936 and became a commentator and intermission host for the New York Philharmonic programs. From 1942 through 1963 he was director of the CBS Music Department. He was a keen ornithologist, and his Symphony of the Birds(1960) consisted entirely of birdcalls. He also wrote a travel book, Italian Odyssey(1969).

Interview

By Permission of WQXR

JF Mr. Barber, do you recall your feelings during the very first performance of your music anywhere?

SB No, Mr. Fassett, I don’t, because I was in Italy at the time and the performance was in Philadelphia.

JF In recent years I’ve seen you frequently at rehearsals and performances of your music. Tell me, how much can a composer actually do when a conductor is rehearsing his music?

SB Well, some composers have difficulties with conductors. Disagreements are bound to happen. I’ve found in general that conductors are very malleable. They’re anxious to give a faithful performance according to the composer's intentions. In fact, the better the conductor, the more anxious he seems to be to interpret exactly what the composer wishes.

JF When was the first time you heard a piece of yours played by an orchestra?

SB A few years after that Philadelphia performance. Of course, the rehearsal is the most exciting part for the composer because then he hears for the first time the piece as he imagined it. In other words, the blueprint comes to life. But this particular rehearsal by a famous American orchestra was somewhat frustrating to me.

JF What happened?

SB It was the only rehearsal of the piece, and for some reason the conductor decided to work on only the first half of it. Then he sent the players home. I asked him why he hadn't even read the piece through, and he said: “Well, they’ll play better tomorrow at the concert if they are just reading it!”