Friday, March 12, 2010

Happy Birthday, Samuel Barber


Who of course is famous for his beautiful Adagio for Strings.

I have a pretty good musical background, but, oddly, I'd never heard this piece until very recently--3 or 4 years ago, on NPR.

I played violin in grade school and high school, and had the privilege of attending a school with a superb music program. We played a lot of wonderful music, but I regret never having had a chance to be part of a string ensemble performing this piece. What a completely amazing experience that must be!

2 comments:

Monika said...

It's a bit sad, don't you think? Listening to it makes me want to cry.

T-Mom said...

It is a very sad piece. But so beautiful. I wish I'd had a chance to make that music, as well as listen to it. It's funny what a phantom-physical reaction I have to this particular piece--I suppose because it's a string piece and I can imagine playing it, and because I always enjoyed playing with an ensemble more than playing solo (piano, for example).