"Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber, contributed by Sam Powell (2025)
Originally composed as a string quartet, Barber decided to arrange this wonderful adagio for orchestra. Barber’s Adagio for Strings rivals Mahler’s Adagietto in his Symphony No. 5, or Elgar’s Nimrod from the “Enigma Variations,” with its breathtaking harmonic progressions that extend throughout the work. The structure itself—the progressive rise towards an intense climax before a calm recession—mirrors the contemplation to catharsis of loss itself. Once one listens to this transformational work, it should be no surprise that in periods of national mourning, such as the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, and John F. Kennedy, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings fills the room. I have a deep love and appreciation for classical music in periods of both joy and sorrow. As a cellist, classical music has been integral to my identity, serving as an outlet and vector for connection. Particularly, the cello, with its human-like voice, pierces deeper than any instrument, in my humble opinion. I discovered Adagio for Strings not at Carnegie Hall in NYC or the Musikverein in Vienna, but rather at my kitchen table. When I was ten, my father—a person with whom I have a very deep connection and relationship—asked me to close my eyes and listen, as he placed a CD into the player. Since that moment, I have grasped the refuge classical music can provide and it has profoundly expanded upon my capacity for empathy and emotion. This piece, more than most, expresses the confusion, turmoil, and strife of loss in a manner that words alone cannot and, for that, I am forever grateful for Barber’s genius.