Barber was hospitalized on and off between 1978-1981 while undergoing treatment for cancer. He died of that disease on January 23, 1981, at his 907 Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan at the age of 70. The funeral was held at the First Presbyterian Church of West Chester three days later and he was buried in the Oaklands Cemetery there. His final composition, "Canzone for oboe and string orchestra" (1981), was published after his death. Initially intended to be a fully developed oboe concerto, Barber only completed the second movement of that work.