Thanks for posting! Ostensibly in 3 movements, this work may be considered really only 2 movements: movement 1 ends abruptly midway with the famous movement II "Adagio" spliced in, after which movement I continues on to its conclusion!
The third movement feels out of proportion in relation to the first two movements, more like a coda than a finale. Barber probably scrapped the longer finale because he couldn't come up with anything to top the beautiful Adagio movement. I don't blame him. Barber was correct to adapt the Adagio movement as a single movement work for string orchestra, but I also enjoy hearing it in its original quartet form.
I’ve heard many comment similarly on the violin concerto, as if the 3 minute scherzando finale is an afterthought given the more expansive nature of the first two movements. Not sure what I think to be honest about that; but here it certainly feels redundant, and largely just repeats material from the first movement. The adagio movement is the standout in this work.
@@brianj959 Barber, for some reason, usually had the most trouble with the finales in his larger works. For example, the finale to his piano concerto was composed just two weeks before the premiere.
This is one of my three favorite quartets, along with the Borodin no. 1 in A-major and the Shostakovich no. 8 in c minor. Dohnanyi and Dvorak wrote some fine examples of the genre also.
very great interpretation of the piece. however, i was wondering if possibly the second violinist made a mistake. it occurs twice in the first movement, and is nearly impossible to detect. at 2:14 the notes written in the 3/4 bar go as follows: b flat, a, c, a, b flat. what was played was nearly the same except the final note was a b natural. transposed in a different key later at 7:41 the same tonality happens again. just curious if this was a purposeful consideration or simply a missed note
No, 2nd violin did NOT play it wrong--rather, rightly corrected an error in the score by adding the natural sign! Printed scores can have errors, especially errors of omission.
I came for analysis of the adagio. I'm not a fan of very minor tonal, brucknerian sappiness, but in the buildup to the climax, Barber uses deceptively simple writing that is quite impressive.
What I still don't understand is why the piece is in B minor and he choosed the adagio to be in Bb minor which it's obvious that it's would be easier to play it in Bm instead because of the open strings of the strings instruments. Probably the colour of Bbm is the one who got him to this.
It's exactly because of the open strings, actually. Open strings are naturally louder and more vibrant than fingered strings, so the key selection of B-flat minor avoids their brighter sound in favor of a kind of subtle, natural muting. He does not, however, call for the use of actual mutes, either in this version or in the Adagio for Strings orchestral arrangement. Barber was going for a specific kind of sound - expressive and somber but not schmaltzy.
@@jeffgrigsbyjones thank you for this introspective look, I have to admit I didn't know this fact about open strings. Orchestration itself is a big subject as we all know. I made a detailed harmonic analysis and reduction of the piece lately and posted it here on TH-cam. Recommend you to check it out. th-cam.com/video/lo1Njsir_lM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=k_5UeV1M5BkziA6Q
The gawddammed overplayed Adagio For Strings is within this piece. I prefer this version when a quartet plays it, not some bloated orchestra under the baton of an idiot savant trying to outdo all of the other idiot savants for schmaltz and dreck. Barber was a GENIUS!!! We don't have to Top him...
There are some absolutely brilliant recorded performances of the orchestral Adagio that manage to maintain a lot of vulnerability and intimacy. As with any piece, it usually comes down to the skill of the conductor and the ensemble. Personally, I think the low-register viola highlighted against a fading full string orchestra in the last several measures, after being bombarded with the extremely lush wall of sound preceeding it, is just about as vulnerable and intimate as music gets. It's an impact of contrast you can't get from the quartet. Likewise, there are some pretty lousy recordings of the quartet out there, too. They're simply two very different presentations of the same thematic material...and yes, that material is brilliant. But performing the orchestal Adagio (that Barber himself arranged, after all) is hardly trying to "top" Barber. It's simply playing one of his works in a manner he clearly wanted to hear it played. Pieces become "overplayed" because audiences want to hear them....because they speak to those audiences. In case you missed it, that's the purpose of music. If you personally prefer the quartet, cool...more power to you. But honestly, that whole rant sounded like a hipster-ish attempt to establish that you're aware the Adagio came from this quartet...in other words, it's about making yourself sound knowledgeable, not about the two different presentations of the piece. I think condemning a version of the piece Barber himself clearly wanted presented with a full orchestra (again, he wouldn't have arranged it otherwise) as inescapably inferior, trite, and indicative of some flaw in both performers AND the audience is a pretty transparent attempt to belittle. The fact that you're, in essence, belitting Barber himself when you do so just adds some extra irony to it. TL;DR: Yes....we know the orchestral Adagio came from this piece. You're not special.
I just love the whole thing! The adagio enters so abruptly that it always catches me.
Thanks for posting! Ostensibly in 3 movements, this work may be considered really only 2 movements: movement 1 ends abruptly midway with the famous movement II "Adagio" spliced in, after which movement I continues on to its conclusion!
2nd mvt is just pure beauty
The third movement feels out of proportion in relation to the first two movements, more like a coda than a finale. Barber probably scrapped the longer finale because he couldn't come up with anything to top the beautiful Adagio movement. I don't blame him. Barber was correct to adapt the Adagio movement as a single movement work for string orchestra, but I also enjoy hearing it in its original quartet form.
I’ve heard many comment similarly on the violin concerto, as if the 3 minute scherzando finale is an afterthought given the more expansive nature of the first two movements. Not sure what I think to be honest about that; but here it certainly feels redundant, and largely just repeats material from the first movement. The adagio movement is the standout in this work.
@@brianj959 Barber, for some reason, usually had the most trouble with the finales in his larger works. For example, the finale to his piano concerto was composed just two weeks before the premiere.
Thank you, this was amazing to read along to!
This is one of my three favorite quartets, along with the Borodin no. 1 in A-major and the Shostakovich no. 8 in c minor. Dohnanyi and Dvorak wrote some fine examples of the genre also.
Great job, fantastic interpretation. Wonderfully! Thanks.
8:40
00:00
@@makaan699 very good!
Дуже гарна музика 😊💕💖❤👍🎵🎼🎻🎹
Thank you very much for the score and information. Great read and listening. Very helpful for my music study.
I
Adoro questo quartetto.
Great work, fantastic interpretation. (15:01 - sigh - !)
very great interpretation of the piece. however, i was wondering if possibly the second violinist made a mistake. it occurs twice in the first movement, and is nearly impossible to detect. at 2:14 the notes written in the 3/4 bar go as follows: b flat, a, c, a, b flat. what was played was nearly the same except the final note was a b natural. transposed in a different key later at 7:41 the same tonality happens again. just curious if this was a purposeful consideration or simply a missed note
whoops. good catch! I didn't make this recording but the 2nd violinist did play it wrong.
No, 2nd violin did NOT play it wrong--rather, rightly corrected an error in the score by adding the natural sign! Printed scores can have errors, especially errors of omission.
I came for analysis of the adagio. I'm not a fan of very minor tonal, brucknerian sappiness, but in the buildup to the climax, Barber uses deceptively simple writing that is quite impressive.
What about the fourth movement: Andante mosso, un poco agitato - allegro molto, alla breve?
Is it from an earlier "incomplete" version?
8:33 후기조성
What I still don't understand is why the piece is in B minor and he choosed the adagio to be in Bb minor which it's obvious that it's would be easier to play it in Bm instead because of the open strings of the strings instruments. Probably the colour of Bbm is the one who got him to this.
It's exactly because of the open strings, actually. Open strings are naturally louder and more vibrant than fingered strings, so the key selection of B-flat minor avoids their brighter sound in favor of a kind of subtle, natural muting. He does not, however, call for the use of actual mutes, either in this version or in the Adagio for Strings orchestral arrangement. Barber was going for a specific kind of sound - expressive and somber but not schmaltzy.
@@jeffgrigsbyjones thank you for this introspective look, I have to admit I didn't know this fact about open strings. Orchestration itself is a big subject as we all know.
I made a detailed harmonic analysis and reduction of the piece lately and posted it here on TH-cam. Recommend you to check it out.
th-cam.com/video/lo1Njsir_lM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=k_5UeV1M5BkziA6Q
where can i find the complete sheet of the string quartet? i can only find the adagio score
終楽章が例のアダージョですね。第一楽章の終わりにちょっと異質なスケルツォが挟まる？(調号がロ) アダージョが第二(三)楽章で変ロ。第三(四)楽章が短い終楽章ロ。
14:58
commercial in the middle of a sentence ... fuck!
有難う御座います
(・∀・)ノThank you!
Perhaps you should give credit to Wikipedia for the essay about the music since you failed to mention it.
The gawddammed overplayed Adagio For Strings is within this piece. I prefer this version when a quartet plays it, not some bloated orchestra under the baton of an idiot savant trying to outdo all of the other idiot savants for schmaltz and dreck. Barber was a GENIUS!!! We don't have to Top him...
100 % correct, the original adagio within the quartet is still so much more intimate than the overly bombastic orchestral versions.
@@koenvo6519 Bingo!!!
Chill out man xD
Don McGibbon raaaaage
There are some absolutely brilliant recorded performances of the orchestral Adagio that manage to maintain a lot of vulnerability and intimacy. As with any piece, it usually comes down to the skill of the conductor and the ensemble.
Personally, I think the low-register viola highlighted against a fading full string orchestra in the last several measures, after being bombarded with the extremely lush wall of sound preceeding it, is just about as vulnerable and intimate as music gets. It's an impact of contrast you can't get from the quartet.
Likewise, there are some pretty lousy recordings of the quartet out there, too.
They're simply two very different presentations of the same thematic material...and yes, that material is brilliant. But performing the orchestal Adagio (that Barber himself arranged, after all) is hardly trying to "top" Barber. It's simply playing one of his works in a manner he clearly wanted to hear it played.
Pieces become "overplayed" because audiences want to hear them....because they speak to those audiences. In case you missed it, that's the purpose of music.
If you personally prefer the quartet, cool...more power to you. But honestly, that whole rant sounded like a hipster-ish attempt to establish that you're aware the Adagio came from this quartet...in other words, it's about making yourself sound knowledgeable, not about the two different presentations of the piece.
I think condemning a version of the piece Barber himself clearly wanted presented with a full orchestra (again, he wouldn't have arranged it otherwise) as inescapably inferior, trite, and indicative of some flaw in both performers AND the audience is a pretty transparent attempt to belittle. The fact that you're, in essence, belitting Barber himself when you do so just adds some extra irony to it.
TL;DR: Yes....we know the orchestral Adagio came from this piece. You're not special.
when you steal a piece from yourself
Tiesto
Overrated