"Adagio for Strings" was written by American composer Samuel Barber. It is Barber's best-known composition although it was not one of his Pulitzer Prize winners. The Adagio is a re-arrangement of the slow second movement of Barber's "String Quarter, Op. 11."
Barber was only 26 when the Adagio was performed, in 1938, by Arturo Toscanini's famed NBC Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the first rehearsal, Toscanini remarked, "Simple & beautiful!" This was especially amazing because he rarely conducted pieces by American composers. Read Full Bio"Adagio for Strings" was written by American composer Samuel Barber. It is Barber's best-known composition although it was not one of his Pulitzer Prize winners. The Adagio is a re-arrangement of the slow second movement of Barber's "String Quarter, Op. 11."
Barber was only 26 when the Adagio was performed, in 1938, by Arturo Toscanini's famed NBC Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the first rehearsal, Toscanini remarked, "Simple & beautiful!" This was especially amazing because he rarely conducted pieces by American composers. At first, Barber knew none of this and was angry with Toscanini who had returned the score to Barber without comment. Only later, did Barber realize this had occurred because Toscanini had already memorized the score!
In 1965, Barber rewrote the score for an 8-person choir as part of his religious work "Agnus Dei."
The work has been part of many famous performances besides Toscanini's:
1. It was played during the funerals of Princess Grace & Alfred Einstein.
2. It was played in Britain's Royal Albert Hall during a 2001 tribute to the 9-11 victims.
3. It was played on national radio as part of the announcement of President Franklin Roosevelt's death.
Barber was only 26 when the Adagio was performed, in 1938, by Arturo Toscanini's famed NBC Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the first rehearsal, Toscanini remarked, "Simple & beautiful!" This was especially amazing because he rarely conducted pieces by American composers. Read Full Bio"Adagio for Strings" was written by American composer Samuel Barber. It is Barber's best-known composition although it was not one of his Pulitzer Prize winners. The Adagio is a re-arrangement of the slow second movement of Barber's "String Quarter, Op. 11."
Barber was only 26 when the Adagio was performed, in 1938, by Arturo Toscanini's famed NBC Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the first rehearsal, Toscanini remarked, "Simple & beautiful!" This was especially amazing because he rarely conducted pieces by American composers. At first, Barber knew none of this and was angry with Toscanini who had returned the score to Barber without comment. Only later, did Barber realize this had occurred because Toscanini had already memorized the score!
In 1965, Barber rewrote the score for an 8-person choir as part of his religious work "Agnus Dei."
The work has been part of many famous performances besides Toscanini's:
1. It was played during the funerals of Princess Grace & Alfred Einstein.
2. It was played in Britain's Royal Albert Hall during a 2001 tribute to the 9-11 victims.
3. It was played on national radio as part of the announcement of President Franklin Roosevelt's death.
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autismcel0000.1
@Tani Moe
it's how you left your things
organized, the way you arranged it
in the motion of life without realising
that there is no tomorrow .
I see your blanket thrown on the mattress
as usual, the objects on the table. the floor,
i feel your hurry, I understand why now.
this scene seems unusual. minus you, it's
incorrect and unreal .
the silence of your room, your scent, and
my memory of burying you half an hour ago,
all stranger than a dream .
Linda Renninger
A very moving comment.
My husband loved to run and he did a long one on a winter day at a peninsula near where he lived. ( This happened before we met).
As he rounded the furthest point he was confronted with the cold wind in his face which began to erase every bit of body heat. He realized that if he slowed down or, God forbid, stopped moving completely, his life would almost certainly end because, on a winter day, this park was deserted.
He scorned headphones when he ran, preferring to immerse himself in the internal "home movies" that would
play inside his mind when he did long runs.
I think this Adagio would have been an accurate soundtrack for the life and death moment he found himself in, but if he had been listening to it then, it may have plunged him into despair.
What music could have encouraged him to keep going ? Music full of strength and joy and determination.
Rocky's Theme ( Gonna Fly Now) would have tamped down the creeping fear, I think.
Music is so essential and powerful.
We must be aware of the choices we make ... It can revive us, or it can bring us down.
shamus jubenal
That is pretty. It sounds similar to an older poem which may have influenced it:
Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep—
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
I did not die.
-Clare Harner 1934
Vitakinesis - Biokinesis W
This music is so spiritual, I feel like my soul has left my body.
Mark Tompkins
Doing a Granny Weatherwax were you.
Gabriele De Gruttola
@Phillip Siddiqsorry this is an error, but this soundtrack was first in the film the elephant man ,final scene... year 1980
chuck norris
then ai plugs in
alice thru the glass
@Martin Curry what you describe is Existentialism . In which, I would agree.
TheGaelicWarrior
How high are you
Ban9nas
What had Barber gone through to write something like this? An enormous outpouring of the soul, of only the deepest, innermost, and personal feelings. Beautiful.
Geoffrey Jonathan Wilson
I totally agree.☺️
Dragon43ish
Yes
No Shame
@Dave Dahl sounds familiar... Only now it's the entire world