Even Behrend herself claimed that these pieces were “excursions into a style not typical of Barber”[5] In July 1944, Vladimir Horowitz had been interested in performing works by an American composer.
This bass pattern is what brings Nathan Broder to call this movement a boogie-woogie.”[7] The New Grove Dictionary explains that a Boogie-woogie is a percussive style of piano Blues favoured for its volume and momentum… is characterized by the use of blues chord progressions combined with a forceful, repetitive left-hand bass figure… [and] independence of the right-hand improvisations from the steady, rolling rhythm maintained by the left hand.
In measure six, there is an added B-flat creating a seventh-chord on C. The seventh of the tonic C minor triad does not function correctly in a typical harmonic progression; it is actually treated as a consonant note.
[12] In Barber's movement, the lowered third and seventh scale degrees already exist within the key signature as consonant tones.
Another term by which The New Grove Dictionary defines a boogie-woogie is “volume.” In this movement, any one of the sections can contain a pp dynamic marking (m. 11, 56, 84-91, and 106 to the end) all the way up to a ff (m. 53, 77, 80-83).
Barber uses the bass ostinato, the “blue” chords, improvisatory melodic lines and characteristics that are similar to instruments to achieve an idiomatic style within classic limitations.
Another way that Barber differs from the typical twelve-bar blues pattern is that on the first, second and fourth occurrence of the phrase, there is an added measure to each.
Measure 39 is repeated twice instead of just one time with a few slight alterations to the rhythmic patterns before moving to the G-major triad with an added second in bar 42.
In an analysis of this movement in G major, the “absence of a sharp in the key signature is accounted for by the… F-natural.”[21] This further explains that the F-naturals which occur within the tonic harmonies were not written for the purpose of creating dominant seventh chords.
Additionally, Barber makes use of the lowered seventh scale degree, F-natural as a melodic tone over the tonic chord.
It was not until Allan Kozinn published an interview with Samuel Barber in 1981 that the author confirmed that this movement was based on the tune “Streets of Laredo.”[25] There is, however, still some uncertainty.
Beginning on the low D-flat in measure 6, which is the last note of the septuplet in the melody, the ballad is explicitly borrowed in this section.
Sifferman's analysis of this movement claims that there is some uncertainty whether or not Barber “consciously borrowed” the tune “Streets of Laredo” for this arrangement.
Instead of the tonic sonority, the vi chord appears which immediately moves the harmonic rhythm forward half a measure.
Despite this difficult rhythm, Barber “achieves a piquant, casual”[29] and “overall easy-going bright and cheery mood.”[30] When listening to this piece, there seems to be a free, “bar-less feeling” throughout the main theme.
Arriving on the fifth of a chord as the lowest sounding pitch (second inversion) is a weak voicing and does not create strong harmonic movement.
The submediant chord arrives in root position on the off-beat of beat three, losing the strong middle pulse of a measure.
As mentioned earlier, each blocked chord in the right hand consists of the melody in the top voice with the basic harmonic progression.
With those added tones, the triads can be considered cluster chords, or, more likely in this specific instance, as extended tertian harmonies of the basic progression.
Carter explains that in “most variation forms, the theme gradually becomes more obscured, as illustrated by the third variation.”[31] Barber uses more complex rhythms between the right and left hands.
Barber composed this passage so that the listener can perceive the entire span of the scale in a shorter amount of time without sounding frantic or rushed.
The b melody is played with open block chords consisting of primarily sixths in parallel motion, creating a new sonority during the b section.
This section is also the first time in the movement that the rhythmic organization of the melody is simple with a few slightly syncopated dotted eighth- to sixteenth-note fragments.
For a performer, this can be very difficult to execute due to the need to accent certain tones of constant sixteenth-note pattern to bring out the melody.
The combination of the fiddle and harmonica, create these two voices that move “like freely improvised parts over the simple alternation of tonic and subdominant harmonies.”[35] Barber uses these two motives, with slightly altered versions, multiple times within this piece.
In measure 40, the transition from C back to B1 contains A-flat and E-flat seventh chords, varying briefly from the limited harmonies of the tonic and subdominant.
This “blues ninth chord” is another instance how Barber creates aspects that “idiomatic to the harmonica.”[34] Throughout this entire movement, either in the right or left hand, there is a clear melodic line on a single tone or in thirds.
In this stylized barn dance, Barber recreates the American idiom of a fiddler with another person accompanying them on the harmonica or accordion.
In this work, Samuel Barber utilizes various American idioms as a means of exploring the abundant styles of music rooted in the cultures and history of the United States.
Composing in styles such as blues, a cowboy ballad, and a barnyard dance, Barber is able to convey the many different nuances of American folk music, according to his neo-Romantic ideas.