Barbara Harbach
Barbara Harbach is a versatile figure, active as a composer, organist, harpsichordist, and educator. She is also noted as an editor, founding the journal Women of Note and publishing works by neglected composers.
Harbach was born in Pennsylvania on February 14, 1946. She earned a B.A. from Penn State University, majoring in music and studying organ and harpsichord. She went on for a master's degree from Yale and a doctorate in composition from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She also traveled to the Musikhochschule Frankfurt for studies on the organ with Helmut Walcha; he expressed the opinion that women did not belong in the organ-playing profession, but Harbach persisted and earned a Konzertdiplom degree. Harbach's Praise Him with the Trumpet, for chorus and organ, was published in 1977. She has gone on to write works in most major concert music genres, including at least ten symphonies, chamber music, choral works, an opera, keyboard works, and musical theater. Among her most notable works is One of Ours -- A Cather Symphony, inspired by novelist Willa Cather: her 2009 opera O Pioneers! is also based on Cather's writings. Harbach's recording catalog stretches back to the late '80s, when she issued the first of a series of albums devoted to 20th century harpsichord music on the Gasparo Records label. She has remained associated with Gasparo but has also recorded for MSR Classics, Albany, and her own Hester Park label. Harbach is noted for her performances of Bach, historical music for harpsichord and organ by women composers, and a variety of 20th century music.
As an organist, Harbach has proven especially peripatetic, traveling across the U.S., Europe, and Asia as far afield as Siberia. She has had a successful career as an educator, teaching both performance and composition at Washington State University, the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, and, since 2004, the University of Missouri - St. Louis, where she is now professor emerita. Recordings of Harbach's music have grown consistently more numerous, and The Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 1, earned a Recording of the Year nod for 2008 from MusicWeb International and a Critic's Choice designation from the American Record Guide. In 1993, Harbach co-founded the Women of Note Quarterly, and she remains its editor. She has also edited early music by women in performing editions. By 2022, more than 60 recordings featured Harbach, either as composer or performer, and that year, Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 15: Orchestral Music VI appeared on MSR Classics.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Bach and Handel: Music for Two Trumpets and Organ
Barbara Harbach, Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 4 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 7: Music for Strings
London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Angus
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 10 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anna Bon di Venezia: Six Sonatas for Harpsichord, Op. 2
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 4 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 12: Orchestral Music IV - Symphonic Storytelling
London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Angus
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 15 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 11: Orchestral Music III - Portraits in Sound
London Philharmonic Orchestra, David Angus
Symphonic Music - Released by MSR Classics on 18 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 4: Chamber Music II - Strings and Woodwind Quintet4: Chamber Music II - Strings & Woodwind Quintet
Bratislava Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Istropolis, Kirk Trevor
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on 14 Jul 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 14 - Chamber Music VI
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on 31 May 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 3: A Celebration of Hymns - Toccatas, Flourishes and Fugues
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 13 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milken Archive Digital Volume 4, Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home: Album 4, Funerals and Memorial Services
Classical - Released by Milken Archive Digital on 4 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milken Archive, Vol. 4 Album 13: Organ Music for the Synagogue – Cycle of Life in Synagogue & Home
Classical - Released by Milken Archive Digital on 3 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milken Archive Digital Vol. 4 Album 10: Festivals (Mo'adim) & Other Occasions on the Liturgical Calendar, Pt. 2
Classical - Released by Milken Archive Digital on 2 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 8: Chamber Music IV - Strings, Winds, Brass, Piano and Soprano
St. Louis Chamber Players, St Louis Low Brass Collective, Marlissa Hudson
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on 11 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rosner and Pinkham: 20th Century Harpsichord Music
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 8 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Karl Höller: Fantasie, Improvisationen and Triptychon - Music for Violin, Cello and Organ
Wiiliam Preucil, Roy Christensen, Barbara Harbach
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on 13 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Music
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 14 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 6: Chamber Music III - Reeds, Brass, Strings, Harpsichord and Piano
UMSL Chamber Players, Alla Voskoboynikova, Ruth Price
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on 12 Oct 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of Barbara Harbach, Vol. 5: Vocal Music
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by MSR Classics on 13 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milken Archive Digital, Vol. 4, Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home: Album 3, Weddings
Classical - Released by Milken Archive Digital on 4 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milken Archive Digital Volume 3, Album 4: Seder T'Fillot
Classical - Released by Milken Archive Digital on 15 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milken Archive Digital Volume 3, Album 3: Seder T'Fillot
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Milken Archive Digital on 15 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo