Barber's Adagio

Barber's Adagio
by Samuel Barber [Compact Disc 781.68 Bar]

This is one of my all-time favorite classic music albums. My first exposure to Barber's "Adagio for Strings" was when I heard the piece being used as part of the soundtrack of Oliver Stone's 1986 Academy Award-winning movie, Platoon. Adagio for Strings is haunting, mournful and yet uplifting all at the same time. When I found this album, shortly after its 1997 release, I quickly added it to my collection and gave it as a gift to several friends and relatives. This album features eight different variations on the well-known "Adagio for Strings", emphasizing a number of different instrument types in place of the traditional "strings." James Galway performs flute for one track. The Canadian Brass take up the melody for another track. The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge do a vocal version. Richard Stoltzman achors a clarinet choir for track 5. David Pizarro performs on a pipe organ for track 7. And three of the tracks feature either a string quartet or a full orchestra. If "Adagio for Strings" has ever moved you, you can't miss trying this impressive musical anthology. It's a powerful album! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.