Adagio for Strings

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

There are few words to describe the emotional impact of Barber’s Adagio for strings, originally composed the work as the slow movement of his string quartet while in Italy on a two year residency from 1935-37. Recognizing its potential as a stand alone work, he orchestrated it and submitted it to Arturo Toscanini for review. The next year it was premiered by Toscanini and the newly formed NBC Symphony Orchetra. The work became an instant favorite with the public, and its success launched Barber’s international career.

The musical language of Barber’s Adagio is deceptively simple. Melodically, lines move in long strands of rising steps, evoking a sense of reaching and yearning. Harmonically, the energy builds through drawn-out suspensions, creating surges of tension and release over a glacially slow sequence of bass notes.

Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and let the sound wash over you.

1. Allegro moderato
2. Adagio
3. Rondo (Allegro)

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

When we think of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), we think of his incredulous output - 108 symphonies; 68 string quartets; 32 divertimenti for small orchestra; 29 trios for piano trios; 47 piano sonatas; about 20 operas; 14 masses; 6 oratorios; and 2 cello concerti; and the list goes on – It’s strange to think of him as a court musician. But that's exactly what he was, he spent his whole career of over five decades working for the noble family at the Esterhazy court.

The D major cello concerto is dated 1783, approximately twenty years after his C major cello concerto, and was composed for Anton Kraft, principal cellist of the Esterházy court orchestra from 1778 to 1790. At the time, Haydn was mainly preoccupied with composing and conducting operas and was only sporadically composing symphonies, so the commission for a cello concerto may have felt like a distraction. It’s structured in the usual 3 movements; allegro moderato, adagio, rondo - or medium, slow, fast. In this concerto, the solo cello makes the most of its wide range to play all the roles, from the profound bass to the alluring soprano.

The term "Divertimento" (Italian for "diversion") denotes a work primarily designed for the entertainment of both the listeners and the performers. It was commissioned by Paul Sacher, a swiss billionaire, who was the majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche. Bartók wrote the piece in just two weeks in the summer of 1939 during an idyllic retreat in a cottage in the Swiss Alps, provided by Sacher. Such creative tranquility was a wonderful gift, occurring as it did just a few weeks before the onset of war and the events that would force Bartók to leave fascist Europe for the life of an exile in New York City.

The Divertimento holds a special place during a dark time for the composer, its light-hearted, neoclassical title is a look back to music's role as a source of civilized social entertainment, not always meant to bear the burden of intensely personal confessionalism, or political commentary.

Bartok’s Divertimento pays direct homage to the Baroque concerto grosso, with the full ensemble alternating with small groups of solo voices. The first movement erupts with the wild energy and the jagged rhythms of a Bohemian folk dance. The gypsy-infused music feels like an eccentric waltz that gets pulled into an unpredictable sea of shifting time signatures. It develops with short, three note cells that take on a life of their own.

In the second movement the muted strings draw us into the eerie sound world of Bartók’s “Night music,” a recurring atmosphere throughout the composer’s works which evoke the hum of nature on a summer night. The movement unfolds as an intensifying nightmare implemented by another of Bartok’s signature moves, a slow growing crescendo evoking ritualistic procession. The final movement, an exciting rondo, pulls us into the swirling motion of a wild Hungarian dance. An exhilarating three-voice fugue in the middle section leads to a gypsy fiddle cadenza. The final bars bring a surge of forward motion.