Samuel Osborne Barber was one of the most celebrated American composers of the 20th century. He was born into a socially distinguished family in a small Pennsylvanian town. His physician father wanted him to follow into his footsteps, but right from his early childhood, Barber knew that he was going to become a composer one day. He did not deviate from his path and ultimately, at the age of 14, he enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music. He studied there for nine years, composing numerous songs and his first orchestral work, ‘Overture to the School for Scandal’. Thereafter, he continued to work independently, receiving several travel grants and prizes. The Rome Prize enabled him to live in Rome for a few years, where he wrote many of his masterpieces. On his return to the USA, he continued to write on commission, producing many more masterpieces, a majority of which became highly successful. He wrote his last major work at the age of 68, and two years later, he died of cancer in 1981.