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Technical Notice
| Classical Composer: | Barber, Samuel |
|---|---|
| Work: | Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 |
| Year Composed: | 1936 |
| Instrumentation: | Str. |
| Publishers: |
G. Schirmer, Inc. Sikorski The Edwin A. Fleisher Music Collection |
| Duration: | 00:08:00 |
| Period: | 20th Century |
| Work Category: | Orchestral |
Work Information
Available Recording(s)
Few twentieth century pieces have caught the public imagination more than the Adagio for Strings. Barber's original score dates from 1936, when it formed the central movement of his String Quartet in B minor, Op.11. In 1937, Toscanini heard Barber's Symphony No.1 at the Salzburg Festival and asked the composer to supply a piece for his first season with the newly-formed NBC Symphony Orchestra. Barber offered the First Essay and the Adagio, which were both broadcast on NBC radio on 5 November, 1938. The inward nature of the latter probably helped reinforce its public significance, with performances at the funerals of such luminaries as President Roosevelt and Albert Einstein.
The hushed but expressive theme, its modal flavour imparting an evocative timelessness, unfolds in a series of dynamic terraces; intensity increasing as the rapt mood is effortlessly sustained. Cellos take up the theme, and the music reaches an impassioned climax. A heartfelt pause, and the melody resumes its elegiac course, resolving as if with a benediction.
The extent to which the Adagio overshadowed his other works understandably caused Barber frustration in later years. Yet it is difficult to gainsay Aaron Copland's description. 'The sense of continuity, the steadiness of the flow, the satisfaction of the arch that it creates from beginning to end... makes you believe in the sincerity which he obviously put into it'.
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