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The 1938 Barber Première Concert CD1: Part One
CD2: Part Two
This new restoration tackles some of the inherent problems of the aircheck disc for the first time, using audio technology not previously available to restoration engineers to remove or dramatically reduce radio interference and also tackle various hum frequencies and assorted radio whistles present throughout the original master. It has also been possible to fix a number of drop-outs in the recordings we were presented with, which had been dubbed onto open-reel tape some years ago. The original recordings were of course mono, but the tape hiss from later transfers was wide and stereo. I have narrowed the stereo field of this hiss, though some very mild stereo spread may still be evident in upper frequencies.
Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Adagio for Strings is a work for string orchestra, arranged by the American composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet. It is Barber's most popular piece. Genesis Barber's Adagio for Strings originated as part of his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, composed in 1936. In the original it follows a violently contrasting first movement, and is succeeded by a brief reprise of this music. In January of 1938 Barber sent the piece to Arturo Toscanini. The conductor returned the score without comment, and Barber was annoyed and avoided the conductor. Consequently Toscanini sent word through a friend that he was planning to perform the piece and had returned it simply because he had already memorized it. Barber's own arrangement for string orchestra was given its first performance by Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5th, 1938 in New York. The composer also arranged the piece in 1967 for eight-part choir, as a setting of the Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God"). Analysis The piece uses an arch form, employing and then inverting, expanding, and varying a stepwise ascending melody.
The long, flowing melodic line moves freely between the voices in the string choir; for example, the first section of the Adagio begins with the principal melodic cell played by first violins, but ends with its restatement by violas, transposed down a fifth. Violas continue with a variation on the melodic cell in the second section; the basses are silent for this and the next section. The expansive middle section begins with cellos playing the principal melodic cell in mezzo-soprano range; as the section builds, the string choir moves up the scale to their highest registers, culminating in a fortissimo-forte climax followed by sudden silence. A brief series of mournful chords serve as a coda to this portion of the piece, and reintroduces the bass section. The last section is a restatement of the original theme, with an inversion of the second piece of the melodic cell, played by first violins and violas in unison; the piece ends with first violins slowly restating the first five notes of the melody in alto register, holding the last note over a brief silence and a fading accompaniment. The adagio has many musical similarities with Mahler's 5th Symphony Adagietto. Popularity and influence The 1938 world broadcast debut, with Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Orchestra, was selected in 2005 for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the United States Library of Congress. In 2004, Barber's masterpiece was voted the "saddest classical" work ever by listeners of the BBC's Today programme, ahead of Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, and the Adagietto from Gustav Mahler's 5th symphony. The version of the piece performed by London Symphony Orchestra was, for a time, the highest selling classical piece on iTunes. The pieces has been widely adapted in works of popular culture. For a listing, see Adagio for Strings in popular culture. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Barber's Essay for Orchestra No. 1 notes by Andrew Rose Barber's Essay for Orchestra No. 1 is the natural partner to his most famous work, the Adagio for Strings, and both are intrinsically linked to Toscanini. During the summer of 1937, as he began his tenure conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Toscanini asked the orchestra's supervisor, Rodzinski, for suggestions of American works to perform. The suggestion of something by Barber was raised, but rather than play an existing composition, Toscanini decided to ask for a new piece to review. Thus Barber, still a young composer, excitedly got to work on his Essay for Orchestra, which was submitted alongside the Adagio for Strings. Then for several months nothing appeared to happen, and the scores were returned to the composer without comment. Discouraged, Barber started to seek alternative performances. During the summer of 1938 Barber had been invited to Toscanini's summer home in Italy, but piqued by his apparent rejection, refused to go, instead sending a friend with news of an illness. This ruse was quickly seen through by Toscanini, who stated that Barber had no need to be angry with him - he was planning to perform both works, and had returned the scores as a courtesy having already memorised both. Thus the première performance of both works was conducted by Toscanini on 5th November 1938 in this NBC Symphony Orchestra concert. Musically it is perhaps the ideal partner to the Adagio for Strings. Although scored for full orchestra and piano it appears to inhabit the same musical world, certainly at the outset. The piece is essentially in two sections, beginning with a broad, lyrical, brooding Andante sostenuto, which is eventually interrupted by the Allegro molto of the second section, a quasi-scherzo of new material in triple time which builds up to a climax in which themes from the first part are recalled. Finally the piece dies down, first with near-canonical writing in the trumpets, before ending with the violins restating the original theme, which is left hanging in mid-air.
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