Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24, is a 1947 work for voice and orchestra by Samuel Barber. The text is taken from a 1938 short prose piece by James Agee. The work was commissioned by soprano Eleanor Steber, who premiered it in 1948, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky.
Although the piece is traditionally sung by a soprano, it may also be sung by tenor; Anthony Rolfe Johnson's interpretation has become popular in recent years.
Read more about Knoxville: Summer Of 1915: Genesis, Description, Structure, Barber's Text, Premiere, Discography
Famous quotes containing the word summer:
“The prairies were dust. Day after day, summer after summer, the scorching winds blew the dust and the sun was brassy in a yellow sky. Crop after crop failed. Again and again the barren land must be mortgaged for taxes and food and next year’s seed. The agony of hope ended when there was not harvest and no more credit, no money to pay interest and taxes; the banker took the land. Then the bank failed.”
—Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968)