Sure on this shining night Op.13 No.3 (1938) Agee

The American section of the programme opens with one of the best known of Samuel Barber’s songs, “Sure on this shining night,” which is no less often performed in the composer’s own choral version than in the beautifully written original for voice and piano. Though too short to achieve the cult status of the somewhat later “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” it is another Agee inspiration, the summer-night atmosphere of the poem perfectly caught in the opening phrase that not only shapes the vocal line but is also woven with understated contrapuntal skill into the piano part.