When Tradition Meets Samuel Barber

In the contemporary US, Samuel Barber is the most outstanding and representative composer after Aaron Copland. In the20th century, when music developed with great diversity, Samuel Barber consistently followed the European traditional music style, composing lyrically and combining traditional and modern techniques perfectly. While seeking the American music which embodied both the American style and the European tradition, Samuel Barber developed his unique diverse music style, producing a number of works that have profoundly influenced not only the American society but also the whole world. In terms of piano music, Barber’s most renowned works are Excursions, Op.20and Piano Sonata, Op.46. As Barber’s first piano composition, Excursions, Op.20fully demonstrates Barber’s diverse music mentality.This paper focuses on the Excursions, Op.20, conducting an analysis on the following three aspects:the development of Barber’s music style; the diverse music styles in the Excursions, Op.20and the aesthetic reflections on the Excursions, Op.20. This paper summarizes and analyses the diverse music styles in the Excursions, Op.20from its traditionality, modernity and nationality and attempts to find out the aesthetic reflections behind. This paper aims to enhance people’s understanding of the diverse music style of Samuel Barber, a neo-romantic music "prophet", with the view to inspiring the present musical creation.