MUSIC OF BARBARA HARBACH
VOLUME 1

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
Symphony, Reverie & Rhapsody

  RECORDING OF THE YEAR 2008  
 Bob Briggs, MusicWeb International ~ January 2009 

  CRITICS CHOICE 2008  
American Record Guide ~ January / February 2009

František Novotný violin ~ Cynthia Green Libby oboe

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
KIRK TREVOR

  WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS  

$14.95  ~  MS1252

"Anyone who read my previous review of Harbach’s chamber music will know that I am a fan. All I need say is that this disk is well worth having for, if anything, it’s even better and more interesting than the previous disk. So if you’re with me, you can stop reading now and rush to your local record shop and buy an hour’s–worth of the most glorious music you’ll hear this year...[Harbach's] music is tuneful, grateful to play and a joy to listen to. I described the music on the earlier CD as ”white note” music, implying a new simplicity, and it celebrates the great American outdoors. The works recorded here, as befits compositions for orchestra, use larger thoughts and gestures than the chamber works, but her country is never far from her feelings. The (Willa) Cather Symphony...is very special indeed and needs to be heard. The recording is bright and clear with a good perspective on the orchestra and the performances are obviously of the very highest standard. The notes are straight forward and lead one through the music but don’t get technical, nor tell you too much – so, in general, the music is allowed to speak for itself. Harbach’s music is in a class of its own and this is a CD which must not be missed at any cost.”
Bob Briggs, Music Web International ~ September 2008

"Harbach's music is on the whole remarkably gentle
and comfortable-sounding, even comforting - never fierce even when vigorous--and there is very little music I would put in such a category.”
R. James Tobin, Classical.com ~ July 2008

"[Harbach's music is] forthright, uncomplicated, honest, spiritually generous, rugged yet accessible, it dwells under a big sky and within wide open spaces. [Veneration] is proof that sincerity can be expressed in music... Kirk Trevor and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra leave me confident that they have left none of the music's  stones unturned; the engineering is similarly professional...”
R. James Tobin, Classical.com ~ July 2008

“[Harbach] is a master organist and harpsichordist...She's a dead-on-heart-and-soul American romanticist in the Copland-Hanson-Harris mold... Harbach's music astonished me for its heavy reliance on the lyric and the beautifully (and cogently) framed melodic line. I could listen to her music for hours. This music is so uniquely characterized with its own sense of beauty that it makes me wonder where this woman has been all our lives. This is music that really needs to be heard. A great deal of credit for the success of the music on [this record] goes to the conductor and the sound engineers. They have done their best to present the composer, who should someday-if there is any justice in the universe-become a household name. You have got to hear this woman's music if you're a fan of mid-century American romanticism. She brings something entirely new to the table..”
American Record Guide ~ March / April 2008

"Fundamentally based on American folk and hymn-tune style, these attractive pieces occasionally suggest Copland in film-score mode and are often quiet, contemplative and peaceful in spirit. The melodies are lovely, the orchestration never thick or gaudy, emotion present but never heart-on-sleeve; in short, dignified and instantly approachable orchestral works."
Records International ~ December 2007

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Barbara Harbach initiated Women in the Arts-St. Louis, a celebration of the achievements of women creators. The more than 850 events by various cultural organizations in the St. Louis region provided audiences with new and historical examples of the work of women writers, composers and artists. She was the 2006 recipient of the Arts Education Award from the Missouri Arts Council for her work Women in the Arts – St. Louis as well as the Yellow Rose Award from the Zonta International Club of St. Louis, 2006, Faculty Excellence Award, 2006 from the College of Fine Arts and Communication, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Hellenic Spirit Foundation Award-St. Louis in 2007.