Barber, Adagio for Strings

It may seem that I feature works in this series that tend to be less well known if not obscure. There’s some truth to that. It results in part from the fact that I look for shorter works that I think my audience has time to listen to, preferably more than once. The blockbuster classical works tend to be longer. And I enjoy finding things that may not be on the average listeners playlist. You don’t really need me to point you to a Beethoven symphony or a Verdi opera.

Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) is certainly well-known and frequently performed. If you haven’t heard it in concert or on the radio, you quite possibly have heard it in film scores. The music is dramatic in a particular way. It sustains a single emotion, a sense poignancy, for its duration (close to 9 minutes). When a movie-maker adds dramatic footage, the result can be powerful. For example, in the final scene of Elephant Man (in which he prepares his bed) the music conveys a profound peace. But in Platoon, the music provides a stark contrast with horrific scenes of war. Both are a testament to the emotional impact of this work. The list of films using the work is quite long.

Barber composed the work in 1936 early in his career. The orchestral version was premiered by Arturo Toscanini in 1938 to critical acclaim. Some critics thought that the initial review by Olin Downes overrated the work. Its musical material is deceptively simple. But that tends often to be the case with some of the best art, and this work has certainly been embraced by the public.

The video originally posted here has been updated.