Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 - Leonard Bernstein - New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Details

Description

Adagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11.
Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year that he wrote the quartet. It was performed for the first time on November 5, 1938, by Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a radio broadcast from NBC Studio 8H. Toscanini also conducted the piece on his South American tour with the NBC Symphony in 1940.

The work is considered Samuel Barber's most popular composition. In 2004, Adagio for Strings was voted "the saddest classical piece" by BBC listeners.

Its reception has generally been positive, with Alexander J. Morin writing that Adagio for Strings is "full of pathos and cathartic passion" and that it "rarely leaves a dry eye". The music is the setting for Barber's 1967 choral arrangement of Agnus Dei. Adagio for Strings has been featured in the Film "The Elephant Man" by David Lynch (1980).

The video is the 7-minute film "The Soul of the Cypress" starring Chase Harringdine as the tree nymph, made by Avangard filmmaker Dudley Murphy. 1921. Story: A young composer's mesmerizing music frees an immortal tree nymph, entwined spiritually with an ancient cypress. As the human falls in love with the immortal creature, a sacrifice awaits.

Composer: Samuel Barber
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Film written and directed by Dudley Murphy. 1921.
Video created by Torsten Lang. 2023. LAVA.

#classicalmusic
#SamuelBarber
#lava