Samuel Barber (born March 9, 1910, West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died January 23, 1981, New York, New York) was an American composer who is considered one of the most expressive representatives of the lyric and Romantic trends in 20th-century classical music.

Barber studied the piano from an early age and soon began to compose. In 1924 he entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where, in addition to piano and composition, he studied singing and conducting. After graduation in 1934, Barber devoted himself entirely to composition. His style was distinctive and modern but not experimental. He established his reputation with his overture to The School for Scandal (1933), based on Richard Sheridan’s comedy by that name, and with Music for a Scene from Shelley (1935), inspired by the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Samuel Barber". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Barber. Accessed 28 May 2024.