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Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs
The Hermit Songs of Samuel Barber (1910–1981) were commissioned in 1953 for the annual Founder's Day concert celebrating Coolidge's birthday on October 30. Based on anonymous Irish poems from the eighth to twelfth centuries, the song cycle was premiered at a memorable solo song recital featuring soprano Leontyne Price (b. 1927) with the composer at the piano. Price had catapulted to fame for her role as Bess in George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, and she was hand-picked by Barber for the occasion. It was one of the most successful Founder's Day concerts in the history of the series. Suffering from pneumonia, Coolidge was unable to attend. She died days later on November 4, 1953, at age eighty-nine. |