Adagio for Strings

This article is about the composition by Samuel Barber. For the version by Tiësto, see Adagio for Strings (Tiësto). For the version by the British Quartet Escala, see Escala (album).

Samuel Barber, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944

Adagio for Strings is a work for string orchestra, arranged by the American composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet.

Genesis

Barber's Adagio for Strings originated as the second movement in his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, composed in 1936. In the original it follows a violently contrasting first movement, and is succeeded by a brief reprise of this music.

In January 1938 Barber sent the piece to Arturo Toscanini. The conductor returned the score without comment, and Barber was annoyed and avoided the conductor. Subsequently Toscanini sent word through a friend that he was planning to perform the piece and had returned it simply because he had already memorized it. It was reported that Toscanini did not look at the music again until the day before the premiere. The work was given its first performance in a radio broadcast by Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5, 1938 in New York.

The composer also transcribed the piece in 1967 for eight-part choir, as a setting of the Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God").

Analysis

The piece uses an arch form, employing and then inverting, expanding, and varying a stepwise ascending melody. It is in the key of B-flat minor and is in 4/2 time, although the meter varies throughout.

The long, flowing melodic line moves freely between the voices in the string choir; for example, the first section of the Adagio begins with the principal melodic cell played by first violins, but ends with its restatement by violas, transposed down a fifth. Violas continue with a variation on the melodic cell in the second section; the basses are silent for this and the next section. The expansive middle section begins with cellos playing the principal melodic cell in mezzo-soprano range; as the section builds, the string choir moves up the scale to their highest registers, culminating in a fortissimo-forte climax followed by sudden silence. A brief series of mournful chords serve as a harmonic transition to return to the tonic, reintroducing the bass section. The last section is a restatement of the original theme, with an inversion of the second piece of the melodic cell, played by first violins and violas in unison; the piece ends with first violins slowly restating the first five notes of the melody in alto register, holding the last note over a brief silence and a fading accompaniment.

Popularity and influence

The recording of the 1938 world premiere, with Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Orchestra, was selected in 2005 for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the United States Library of Congress.

The piece was played at the funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco and at the funeral of Albert Einstein. Contrary to popular belief, it was not played at the funeral of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but was broadcast over the radio at the announcement of his death. It was performed in 2001 at Last Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall to commemorate the victims of the September 11 attacks, replacing the traditional upbeat patriotic songs.

A part of this song was also performed by a choir for the extended intro of P. Diddy's tribute song to Notorious B.I.G., "I'll Be Missing You."

In 2004, listeners of the BBC's Today program voted Adagio the "saddest classical" work ever, ahead of "Dido's Lament" from Dido and Æneas by Henry Purcell, the "Adagietto" from Gustav Mahler's 5th symphony, Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss and Gloomy Sunday as sung by Billie Holiday.

Adagio for Strings may be heard on many film, TV, and video game soundtracks, including Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning film Platoon, David Lynch's 1980 Oscar-nominated film The Elephant Man, Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Oscar-nominated 2001 film Amélie. A choral version performed by Santa Barbara's Quire of Voyces is the second track on the soundtrack to the popular 1999 PC video game Homeworld.

Escala, from Britain's Got Talent feature Adagio For Strings on their debut album Escala, lacking the heavy drums and other outside instruments as seen in their other tracks on the album.

British rock band Muse's interlude from their 2003 album Absolution samples Adagio for Strings.

A recorded performance by the London Symphony Orchestra was, for a time, the highest selling classical piece on iTunes.

This piece was performed as part of the Reading Buccaneers 2005 field show "Variations in B". The piece received standing ovations at every performance.

The work is extremely popular in the Electronic dance music genre, notably in Trance. Artists who have covered it include William Orbit, Ferry Corsten and Tiësto, with Corsten's arrangement reaching #4 in the UK singles chart. It has appeared as major tracks on many albums and compilations, for its emotiveness. These include an original version as Track 01 on Gatecrasher's Disco-Tech (CD02), Tiësto's version on his album Parade of the Athletes, William Orbit's version as the last Track on "Gatecrasher's National Anthems"(CD01) and many more.

In 2002, on their album So Strong, The Celtic Tenors did a vocal version of the piece, arranged for six voices. It is the only wordless song on the album.

Audio

• BBC.co.uk Sample from the BBC
• modern-strings.de MP3 from the Modern-Strings
• NPR special on the selection of the 1938 broadcast debut of "Adagio for Strings" to the 2005 National Recording Registry
• Listen to a sample at last.fm
• Listen to a sample of the choral arrangement at last.fm
• Youtube: Vocal cover of Adagio

External links

• 'Adagio for Strings' song of the day on thishereboogie.com 21 Nov 2008
• "The Saddest Music Ever Written" Thomas Larson [1]