Barber
Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Barber originally composed this music in 1936 as the second movement of his String Quartet No. 1 in B-minor, Op. 11, and later arranged it for five-part string orchestra. The first performance of the orchestral version was by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini in 1938.
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When Arturo Toscanini told Samuel Barber he would like to perform one of his works, Barber knew the import of the request: the great maestro had enormous influence, and his performances of American composers were very rare. Eventually Barber sent Toscanini the scores to the Essay for Orchestra and the Adagio for Strings; some time later, they were returned to him without comment.
Barber and his friend, composer Gian Carlo Menotti, had been frequent house guests of Toscanini. When they were invited again, Barber was plainly annoyed and refused to go. Toscanini asked Menotti, “Well, where’s your friend Barber?” Menotti said that Barber was ill, but Toscanini replied, “I don’t believe that. He’s mad at me. Tell him not to be mad. I’m not going to play one of his pieces. I’m going to play both.” Toscanini had memorized the scores before returning them.
Toscanini programmed the two works for a 1938 broadcast of the NBC Symphony, a group formed expressly for him. These broadcasts were anticipated with a fervor bordering on the religious. The success of the performance, especially the Adagio, caused Barber’s standing to rise overnight, and the Adagio would become his most-performed work.
What accounts for the Adagio’s long-lived popularity? Technically it is a simple work. Its long arch is formed by a succession of phrases, each subtly different from the previous. A great climax is reached, then the music ebbs away. The harmonic language is a straightforward melding of the phrygian church mode and Barber’s own romanticism. Its colors are homogeneous, its style elemental.
Yet for all its simplicity, the Adagio is a profoundly moving piece, its pure music even more evocative than Barber’s more descriptive works. It is a matter of feelings. As Aaron Copland said, “It comes from the heart, to use old-fashioned terms.” William Schuman added: “I think it works because it’s so precise emotionally. The emotional climate is never in doubt. It begins, it reaches its climax, it makes its point, and it goes away. For me, it’s never a warhorse; when I hear it played, I’m always moved by it.”