ALS in Italian, one page both sides, 8.25 x 10.75, American Academy in Rome letterhead, no date but circa late 1936/early 1937. Letter to "Domenico," a lawyer and brother of Gian Carlo Menotti. Barber thanks Dominco and his friends for good wishes on the occasion of the execution of his Symphony in One Movement, a work dedicated to his friend Gian Carlo Menotti. He is very busy since he is leaving on the 6th with the S.S. Rex, an Italian ocean liner bound for New York. In part (translated): "It seems that the Symphony has been a real success, I had three calls, rare thing for a modern music. Many parties in my honour and also a telegram from the Princess of Piemonte. The execution was fantastic, much better than that of Molinari who, entre nous, was too nervous, too loud (GOD the trumpets), too fragmentary…Naturally I come back to America with great pleasure. On January 23rd in Cleveland they do the Symphony, the conductor is very clever. Next to the N.Y. Philharmonic. I am awaiting these performances with pleasure because these orchestras are a thousand times better than those of Rome. In March my Quartet is again in N.Y. Hope to listen to the 'Amelia' [of Gian Carlo Menotti]. On April 1st I am again back to Rome." In fine condition, with an ink blot touching two words of text.
Barber's Symphony in One Movement was premiered by Rome's Philharmonic Augusteo Orchestra under the baton of Bernardino Molinari on December 13, 1936. It received its American premiere by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Rudolf Ringwall January 21 and 23, 1937, and was then performed three times at Carnegie Hall on March 24, 1937, by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra under direction of Artur Rodziński.
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