 Samuel Barber, at the age of 21, spent the summer of 1931 in Italy with lifelong companion Giancarlo Manatti. Between tennis matches, swimming, bicycling, and shopping excursions, Barber tossed off the overture to the school for scandal, insisting that it was not intended as a prelude to the 18th century comedy of the same name, but rather a reflection of the play's spirit. Raymond, this wasn't exactly a labor-intensive work, was it?