Adagio for Strings

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Samuel Barber, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944
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Samuel Barber, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944

Adagio for Strings is a piece of classical music for string orchestra, arranged by the American composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet. It is Barber's most popular piece.

Contents

[edit] Genesis

Barber's Adagio for Strings originated as part of 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 of 1938 Barber sent the piece to Arturo Toscanini. The conductor returned the score without comment, and Barber was annoyed and avoided the conductor. Consequently Toscanini sent a word through a friend that he was planning to perform the piece and had returned it simply because he had already memorized it.[1] Barber's own arrangement for string orchestra was given its first performance by Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5th, 1938 in New York.

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

[edit] Analysis

The piece uses an arch form, employing and then inverting, expanding, and varying a stepwise ascending melody.

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 fort-fortissimo climax followed by sudden silence. A brief series of mournful chords serve as a coda to this portion of the piece, and reintroduces the basses. 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.

[edit] Adagio for Strings in culture

The 1938 world broadcast debut, 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.[citation needed]

[edit] In popular music

  • The piece was used as a synth solo introduction to the song When A Blind Man Cries by Deep Purple on their live album Live at the Olympia '96.[2]
  • The melody has been used for digital compositions by Trance Music DJs such as Ferry Corsten and DJ Tiësto

[edit] In films

The piece is heard in The Elephant Man, and Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny; it is heard repeatedly in Amélie, Platoon and Lorenzo's Oil; it also appears in the film Scarface and more recently in Reconstruction (2003 Film by Christopffer Boe).[3]

[edit] Ballet

The ballet, Adagio for Strings, choreographed for American Ballet Theatre by John Meehan to Barber's music of the same title, had its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on 8 April 1980.[4]

[edit] Computer games

Agnus Dei, the choral version of Adagio for Strings, is heard both in the opening launch sequence and later in the third mission of the PC strategy game Homeworld[5].

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Audio

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Impact of Barber's 'Adagio for Strings'. National Public Radio. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
  2. ^ Deep Purple Classic Quotes
  3. ^ Samuel Barber at the Internet Movie Database is a list of movies that have included Adagio for Strings on their soundtracks, some as an integral part of the film score, others as incidental background noise.
  4. ^ ADAGIO FOR STRINGS. American Ballet Theatre.
  5. ^ Homeworld Background Story and Intro. Google Video. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.
  6. ^ Romeo A. Dallaire, Brent Beardsley (October 2004). Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. Carroll & Graf, 322. ISBN 0-7867-1487-5.
  7. ^ Big demand for classical downloads is music to ears of record industry. Guardian Unlimited.
  8. ^ Last Night of the BBC Proms programme changed. BBC..
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