This coffee break continues it exploration of Samuel Barber's music, beginning with his incomparable Violin Concerto. Although many of Barber’s works make literary allusions, his music is not programmatic in the strict sense. His range was impressive from composing solo piano pieces (in slow blues tempo)to opera to the nostalgic Knoxville:Summer of 1915, inspired by Pulitzer Prize winner James Agee's essay. His opera Vanessa, with libretto by longtime partner Gian Carlo Menotti was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Barber’s Piano Concerto brought him new international success and another Pulitzer Prize. Some critics, when comparing him to Copland or Leonard Bernstein, said of his classic style, "With audiences clamoring for novelty, all Barber could offer them was honesty."

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