Samuel Barber’s “Adagio For Strings”

The Adagio was composed in 1936 as part of Barber’s “String Quartet, Op. 11.” It was first performed and given its most remembered performance by the NBC Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Arturo Toscanini in November 1938.

This was a most turbulent time in our world, with Nazism and Fascism on the rise in Europe. Maestro Toscanini had already fled from Mussolini and Italy because of the cancer that was Fascism. It is not surprising that in the intervening years, the Adagio has been performed during a notable number of significant events and gatherings, including the funeral of Albert Einstein. Years later in 1967, the composer transcribed the piece for an eight-part vocal ensemble.

I first decided to learn this piece before I moved to St. Louis, MO (USA) in 1995. Prior to my return to Huntsville, AL (USA) from St. Louis in 1998, I completed my first, MIDI-only version of this piece. I played each instrument on keyboard: Violins1, Violins2, Violas, Cellos, and Double-Basses referencing an online version of the piece’s notation that I found. It was clear to me that the MIDI file had been transcribed from the (paper) notation/score — and, every note had the same dynamic. And when I played it, the viola part sounded quite discordant and wrong. I was amused when I discovered that the MIDI-file transcriber had neglected to account for the use of alto clef by the violas and had transcribed the viola part using treble clef without performing the necessary transposition.

During my tenure as organist at First Christian Church Huntsville, AL (Oct. 2000 – Sept. 2002) and after the tragedy of September 11, 2001 — without knowing that an organ arrangement existed, I arranged Adagio For Strings for organ. I performed that organ arrangement for the first and last time on Nov. 11, 2001 in celebration of Veterans Day. Ironically, I was scheduled to perform the piece again during a special 9/11 “Remembrance Service” at FCC in September, 2002. Unfortunately (for me only, I suppose…) I was released from my organist post two days before the scheduled performance.

I revised the performance in 2008 for the third time while producing and posting audio versions of most online Creative Minds’ Music MIDI performances. For more than a year the 2008 version has been the most accessed recording at CreativeMindsMusicMusings Blog.

This (2010) is my fourth revision/rendition. While performing research for this blog post, I discovered that the piece’s meter is actually 4/2 and varies throughout. “Aha!,” I thought. The still-unknown-to-me meter changes promised to explain some of the difficulties I had trying to make musical sense of the notation’s meter in certain places. I almost immediately ordered the conductor’s score. Thanks to the marvel of modern-day Internet ordering, I was able to obtain the score for the bargain price of $7.95 with reasonable 4-day shipping. Score in hand, I corrected metric issues, re-recorded, and produced the current version.

I have taught music students that “adagio” specifies a “walking-speed” tempo. Formally, the term “adagio” (It: “at ease”) indicates that the music should be played at a slow and stately speed. My performance is approximately five minutes and thirty-six seconds (5:36.01). However, the conductor’s score specifies that the performance should have a duration of seven to eight minutes. This indicates that my performance may be considered too fast.

I used both Synful Orchestra and Kurzweil K2500 custom sound programs to create the audio for this version.

The animation depicts the on-stage location of Violins 1 (far-left), II (mid-left), Violas (mid-right), Cellos (far-right), and Double Basses (mid-far-right). The lowest frequencies produced by the double-basses may be inaudible without headphones or extended-range speakers.

To place the sound into a specific sound-space, I selected an Altiverb impulse-response (IR) that imparts an acoustic signature from Mechanic’s Hall in Worcester, MA (USA).

Hopefully, the video animation will engage listeners throughout an unusually long Internet performance. I produced the animation using Apple Snow Leopard’s screen (video) capture, Digital Performer’s QuickScribe window(s) , the iTunes visualizer, and the (Mac only) Kinemac animation program.

I hope that you enjoy my performance and production to honor this American musical masterpiece.