Adagio for Strings is the orchestral arrangement of the second movement of American composer Samuel Barber’s String Quartet (1936).
This music has long been associated in the United States with national periods of mourning, having been performed at the funerals of U.S. presidents (Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy) and in the days following the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini first brought the Adagio for Strings to wide public attention. Impressed by some of Barber’s works that he had heard in performance in Europe, he asked Barber for music that his NBC Symphony might perform.
Barber provided the scores for two short works: his Essay for Orchestra, and the Adagio for Strings. Toscanini premiered both works with the NBC Symphony in a broadcast concert and recorded the Adagio soon after.
Here is Gustavo Dudamel leading a performance of Barber’s Adagio for Strings:
