Posted on by tjphilbrick · 1 Comment

Top 25 #17 – Barber Adagio

Hello all,

We are continuing our series on the Top 25 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music with Adagio for Strings by American composer Samuel Barber.

Samuel Barber wrote this piece in 1936 as part of a string quartet. The legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, upon hearing it, begged Barber to arrange it for full string orchestra. Toscanini later premiered the work with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and it became an overnight sensation. It has become renowned as one of the most moving pieces of music in the world. It was played at the memorial services for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy, and Albert Einstein.

This piece is powerful because of its simplicity. It is a study in the bare essentials of music. Notice how the melody is only in one instrument at a time. The rest of the instruments provide a held-out chordal background over which the melody floats. It is also powerful because of the tension that it creates. Notice how the harmony and melody never change at the same time; this tug-of-war creates rising tension as the tonal exchange escalates.

As you listen, keep in mind the words from Virgil’s Aeneid that inspired this piece:

A breast-shaped curve of wave begins to whiten

And rise above the surface, then rolling on

Gathers and gathers until it reaches land

Huge as a mountain and crashes among the rocks

With a prodigious roar, and what was deep

Comes churning up from the bottom in mighty swirls.

Enjoy!

T

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Baba-who?

Hello all,

We’re taking a break from our series on Bach’s Brandenburg concerti to listen to the incredibly powerful “Poem for Piano” by Babajanyan, performed by Armen Babakhanian.

Babajanyan was born in Armenia in 1921 to a very musical family that recognized his musical guest at a very young age. After studying in Moscow for several years an establishing himself as a pianist and composer, he returned to his native Armenia to teach and compose.

One of his favorite things to do was to compose music based on poetry and literature. Many of his compositions are rooted in folk lore from Armenia and Russia, and this one is no exception. He was also fearless when incorporating other styles of music into his compositions. There are traces of jazz, rock’n roll, and blues music in many of his compositions. I would encourage you to listen for the jazz-like harmonies that are present throughout the music.

It is fitting to have this piece be performed by Armen Babakhanian, who is one of the most highly revered Armenian musicians of all time. He studied with pianists who were students of Babajanyan himself and has built his career around the music of Armenia. His performance of this brief little composition is one of the most compact and intense displays of virtuosity you will ever see, so I would highly encourage you to take the just a few minutes to watch the video. Notice the ways that his body language reflects the mood and atmosphere of music. He is not aimlessly throwing himself around the instrument like many musicians unfortunately do; he is using his movements to meaningfully accentuate the contours of the music. As far as his technical prowess is concerned, I’m not sure I can adequately describe it (at least not in a way that does it justice). You’ll see what I mean 🙂