Barber’s Piano Sonata(Op.36): The Rhythm And Its Performance

This is a paper about the Sonata, Op.26, by Samuel Barber. This sonata is one of the most important piano works since 20 century in America; it has integrated the characteristics of Baroque, Classicism, Romanticism, Impressionism and Modernism and demonstrates the style of diversification. The author focuses on the rhythm features of this work, the composer and his works are introduced in the introduction, then starting from micro-level rhythm, this paper discusses the rhythm, meter and accent structure. According to the analyses of the features of the use of rhythmic motives and rhythm, meter, rhythmic accent and meter accent, and therefore summarizes the macro-level rhythm characteristics of the whole piece, which are motive group penetrates, the rhythmic polyphony is imitated and the rhythm structure is clear and explicit. In the last part, four referable performance instructions are provided based on the exercise and playing experiences of the author.