Although there are many fine recordings of Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” including ones by Steber/Strickland, Price/Schippers, and Upshaw/Zinman, my personal favorite is a 1949 radio broadcast conducted by Bernard Herrmann, composer of movie scores, including Hitchcock’s Psycho and Vertigo.

The soloist for this recording is Eileen Farrell in peak form. It is no wonder Herrmann relishes the wistful lyricism in Barber’s masterwork, as Herrmann’s score for Vertigo is among the most beautiful and haunting of all film scores ever composed.

Farrell scales her enormous voice back in the lyrical sections, singing in a conversational style with impeccable diction, stunning breath control, and exquisite pianissimi in some of the higher lying passages. Herrmann also relishes the darker aspects of Barber’s score and Agee’s poignant text, allowing Farrell to unleash her voice in thrilling torrents of sound.