Adagio for Strings

Nobody else? The answer is Samuel Barber.

His Adagio for Strings received 52% of the vote, which when you consider how much music there is about, is quite an endorsement.

And we come to Laura Robinson now.

Queen Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, and the English king known as Henry Tudor, both had what regnal number?

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From 1935 to 1936, Samuel Barber composed a quartet for strings, Opus 11, the second movement of which is now his famous Adagio for Strings.

He finished the arrangement of this second movement for string orchestra in 1936, the same year he finished the full quartet.

It has been a resounding success of a work, even being compared to Edward Elgar's Nimrod as holding the same weight for Americans as that work holds for the British, and has been described as America's semi-official music for mourning.

¦ ¦ . . . ¦ ¦ . . . Cellist Anne Gastineau and pianist Claire Desair performed Nocturne in C-sharp minor by Chopin.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001.

A fitting tribute to that anniversary is this next work, the Adagio for Strings from Quartet for Strings, Op.

11 by Samuel Barber.

It didn't come down, USA.

You've been playing Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings there in the back.

[laughs] Here he is being carried over the rubble by a fireman on each side.

[laughs] And there's Lucky Lutnick right there as a rescue guy.

three, three in the afternoon.

But it was funny, it was lunch, the coffee break at 3.30 and we had the guy live playing Adagio for Strings, a girl live playing Adagio for Strings on the keyboards and the DJ mixing it, lights going.

But you know, in events, energy's a big issue, yeah? How do you sort of get the energy going? And in a place like Ministry of Sound, you literally push four buttons and you can change the energy in a moment.

So it was super cool, it was super cool.

We're going to have a terrific contemplative program.

It starts with Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, but I'll let you tell me the story.

Gentlemen, please, why are we doing this and how did it come together?

Yeah, Jim, well, You know, it occurred to us in the late winter of this last year as we were, as we being the Washington Festival Chorale, were getting together our plan for the 2026-2027 season, that in addition to this year being a very important anniversary in our nation's history, that it was, of course, referring to the the 250th anniversary of our country, that it was also an important anniversary of a more modern event that was maybe being overlooked a bit, which is, of course, the 25th anniversary of September 11th.

As the name suggests, it is a work that focuses both on remembering and looking forward, of remembering those who have gone on and paying attention to those who remain A really captivating work that we're so excited to present together.

As you mentioned, the symphony will also be doing a work or two on their own.

The Adagio for Strings, I know, is among them.

And the chorale will also be presenting a couple choir-only pieces as well.

Indeed, he also had a... huge album.

That single Adagio for Strings went to number four, which was kind of ridiculous back in the day for that kind of thing.

Huge contribution to modern music altogether.

Again, very young man and I don't know what's going on.

Oh, it was Adagio for s- Strings.

Adagio for Strings.

Adagio for Strings.

Yeah, yeah.

That was like-

Yep, Silence.

Uh, he did one of them, I'm sure, of, um-

I'm Harry Mack, and you can find me on Blue Sky @PunishedTake.

And I'm Aaron, and you know shit's not going well for you when "Adagio for Strings" starts playing.

My, uh, Blue Sky is RBPlease.

You can find me there.